Anko (餡子,あんこ), or sometimes we call it An (餡, あん), is sweet red bean paste made from azuki beans. It’s one of the basic and most important ingredients for wagashi (Japanese confectioneries).
4 Types of Red Bean Paste
1. Chunky Red Bean Paste – Tsubu-an (つぶ餡, つぶあん)
When azuki beans are cooked until soft and the mixture is not pureed and there are still whole beans left, it’s considered Tsubu-an (つぶあん). Because the beans are still chunky, this type of red bean paste is a great filling for sweets like Strawberry Daifuku, Dorayaki, Daifuku, Taiyaki, and etc.
If you would like to make a homemade recipe, please scroll down.
2. Fine Red Bean Paste – Koshi-an (こし餡, こしあん)
Koshi-An (こしあん) is very smooth, pureed azuki beans where the beans are cooked until soft and passed through a sieve to get the finest texture without the skins. The package looks like this.
If you would like to make a homemade recipe, please scroll down.
3. Tsubushi-An (つぶし餡)
It’s between Tsubu-an and Koshi-an, where some of the Azuki beans are mashed but the skins are included.
4. Ogura-An (小倉あん)
Traditionally, Ogura-an (小倉あん) was made with Koshi-an that’s mixed with Tsubuan and cooked in sweet syrup. For Tsubu-an, Dainagon Azuki Beans (大納言小豆), the highest quality of azuki beans, are used.
However, in recent years, Ogura-an is basically just Tsubu-an.
How to Make Red Bean Paste (Anko) from Scratch
- Red Bean Paste (Anko) – both recipes for Chunky (Tsubuan) and Fine (Koshian)
- White Bean Paste (Shiroan) – made of lima beans (butter beans).
How to Make Red Bean Paste (Anko) in Pressure Cooker
Learn how to make both Tsubu-an and Koshi-an with a pressure cooker, click here for the recipe.
Recipes Using Red Bean Paste (Anko)
Strawberry Mochi (Ichigo Daifuku)
Ohagi (Botamochi) – Sweet Rice Balls
Zenzai (Oshiruko) – Red Bean Soup
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Thank you for all the great info!
Thank you for reading, Susie! 🙂
Hi! How do you store leftover red bean paste? I just made your red bean pancakes and they were delicious.
Hi Neelie! I always freeze the leftover. If you know what you’re going to use it next time, just portion out. If it’s for Zenzai (red bean mochi soup), then I would wrap one bowl portion in plastic wrap and then put it in ziploc bag. But if I need a large amount, I’d put it in a glass airtight container and freeze it. I’m so happy to hear you liked the red bean pancake recipe! 🙂
Thank you for post. ifI need to eat I go to va fair fax to get them. please keep post Japanese foods.I am always looking for Just one cookbook. Thank you very much.
Hi Kumiko! Thank you for reading my blog! I’m really happy to know that you enjoy what I share here. 🙂 xo
I’ve recently made Anko according to this recipe. Both my friend and me have a difficult time enjoying it. It is way too sweet for our taste.
Are you sure that’s how it is supposed to taste?
Hi Denise! Anko is supposed to be sweet. If you look at the majority of the recipe, it tells you that the weight of the sugar and beans should be the same. The anko is supposed to be kept at room temperature along with the sweets you make, so the amount of sugar is important for preservation. You can slightly lower the sugar, especially if you’re using it up and no need to put in sweets like Dorayaki or Daifuku (that need to be kept at room temp). Also, compared to the store-bought anko, this should be still less sweet. 🙂
I have a question, and I hope you can answer it. I’m guessing people made red bean paste long before sugar was commonly available in Japan, so what was used to sweeten the beans before sugar?
Hi Ren! Anko was used to be salty (塩餡) and only became sweet anko after mid Edo period. Even then, it was only enjoyed for higher class people, and not for the commoners. 🙂