Making Sweet Red Bean Paste (Anko) from scratch is easier than you think! You only need 4 ingredients for this recipe. I‘ll show you how to make tsubuan (chunky paste) and koshian (fine paste) so you can make delicious Japanese sweets at home.
Do you love Japanese sweets and desserts? If you’re like me who enjoy eating them all, then it’s time to make Anko (餡子) aka sweet red bean paste! It is the most basic and favorable filling in traditional Japanese confectionery and pastry.
Whether it’s Daifuku Mochi, Dango, Dorayaki, Taiyaki, Manju, or Anpan, they are filled with Anko and bursting with the deep, sweet flavor of red beans. So let’s learn how to make Anko red bean paste today!
Table of Contents
What is Anko?
Sometimes known as An (餡), Anko (餡子, あんこ) is a Japanese sweet red bean paste made from azuki beans. It is the most common filling used in many Japanese sweets. In fact, you can find sweet bean paste in many other Asian pastries and desserts.
In Japanese cooking, the word “Anko” or “An” usually refers to a red bean paste, but it also implies other varieties such as:
- Shiroan (白あん) – made from lima beans or butter beans. Learn more about it on White Bean Paste (Shiroan) post.
- Kurian (栗あん) – made from chestnuts.
How to Make Anko
It is usually prepared by boiling azuki beans, sometimes mashing them, and then sweetening the paste with sugar.
Azuki, or sometimes written as Adzuki, literally means ‘small beans (小豆)’ in Japanese. Japanese azuki beans are mostly cultivated in the Hokkaido area. The bigger variety of azuki beans is called Dainagon (大納言) and it is slightly more expensive than Azuki beans.
You can find azuki beans from Japanese grocery stores or health food stores.
2 Types of Anko (Sweet Red Bean Paste)
There are two most common types of red bean paste:
- Tsubuan (粒あん) – The paste has a chunky texture with bean shapes still intact.
- Koshian (こしあん) – The paste has a fine, smooth texture.
How Do We Choose Which One to Use in Recipes?
There’s no strict rule to this. Just like peanut butter, you can choose chunky versus smooth texture based on your preference. I personally prefer chunky beans in Japanese confectioneries and pastry, so I’d always make Tsubuan for Daifuku Mochi and Anpan,
How to Make Tsubu-an (Chunky Sweet Red Bean Paste)
Tsubuan (粒あん) is prepared by boiling the azuki beans and sweetening with sugar. Bean skins are still left in the paste and the beans are not fully “mashed” although some of them are crushed or mashed during cooking.
I usually make Tsubuan because I prefer the texture and it’s also very easy to make!
How to Make Koshi-an (Fine Sweet Red Bean Paste)
Traditionally, Koshian (こしあん) requires more steps to prepare. After cooking the beans, you will have to:
- Pass the cooked azuki beans through a fine-mesh sieve to remove the bean skins. You may need to add water to help sift the beans through with the back of a wooden spoon.
- Put the mashed beans in a large bowl and fill up with water. Let the mashed beans settle naturally for 30 minutes, then discard the water. Repeat the same process, the second time for 15 minutes, and the third time for 5 minutes, until the water is clear.
- After you discard the water, transfer to a clean cotton cloth (or cheesecloth) to strain out most of the liquid. You will now have a fine, smooth paste.
- Transfer the bean paste to the pot and combine with sugar and salt. Reduce until thicker paste and Koshian is made!
That’s a lot of physical work!
So these days, the home cooks just turn on the food processor to make the fine paste, without removing the bean skins! Personally, I do not see a big difference in the Koshian between the traditional, time-consuming method and the food processor method.
In this recipe, I’ll show you the food processor method. You can use a blender too.
5 Useful Tips for Making Anko At Home
1. No More Soaking Azuki Beans Overnight
In my previous recipe, I soaked the azuki beans in water overnight. I was taught by my grandma that azuki beans have very hard skin so it’s good to soak.
However, these days many articles and recipes mention that we do not need to soak azuki beans anymore. For the first 4 hours, azuki beans do not absorb any water and require 18 hours to soak. Therefore, it’s recommended to just start cooking right away.
I have been following the new method and I actually don’t see any difference from my previous recipe. Now I can make Anko when I want to make it and I do not need to wait overnight!
2. Boiling and Throwing Water Away
The reason why we boil the azuki beans and throw away the water is to remove the astringency (shibumi in Japanese 渋み) of the food. We use the same technique for cooking bamboo and bitter gourd.
I do it just once, while some people do it twice or three times. It’s up to you, but I’ve been doing just once and it’s okay with me.
3. The Bean to Sugar Ratio
In general, the bean to sugar ratio for Anko is 1 to 1, an equal amount. For home use, you can reduce the sugar to your liking.
However, before doing so, please note the followings:
- The sugar is to preserve the paste for a longer time. If you reduce the sugar, Anko is not well-suited for keeping for a longer time.
- Anko can be the only “sweet” element for the confectionary you’re making. The mochi, the dough, or the batter you’re preparing to go with Anko may not be sweetened.
In this recipe, for 200 grams of azuki beans, I suggested the sugar amount to be 175-200 grams of sugar 1: 0.9-1, which is slightly less than an equal amount.
4. Add A Pinch of Salt to Sweeten
You may wonder why salt when you are making sweet red bean paste.
A bit of salt is used as a flavor enhancer because it will reduce bitterness, but increase sweetness and umami which is desirable for sweet recipes. So instead of increasing the amount of sugar, add a pinch of salt to enhance the sweetness first.
5. Stop Cooking When You Can Draw a Line…
As soon as you can draw a line with a spatula on the bottom of the pot, transfer the red bean paste to a baking sheet or a flat wide-surface tray and cool immediately.
Remember the moisture will continue to evaporate with the remaining heat and the paste will thicken further as it cools.
How to Make Anko with a Pressure Cooker (Instant Pot)
If you own a pressure cooker such as an Instant Pot, it’s so much easier and faster to make red bean paste. Check out my Pressure Cooker Anko recipe for details.
White Bean Paste (Shiroan)
As mentioned earlier, sweet bean paste is not only made from azuki beans but also made from white beans. White Bean Paste, or what we call Shiroan (白餡), is another common filling for Japanese confectionery such as mochi and manju.
The paste has a milder bean taste, so it makes a great alternative to red bean paste if that’s what you prefer.
How to Store Anko
You can store the red bean paste in the freezer for up to 2 months! It’s such a treat to have it on hand, and more reasons to enjoy Japanese sweets for your afternoon tea.
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Sweet Red Bean Paste (Tsubuan and Koshian)
Ingredients
- 7 oz azuki beans (dried; a bit less than 1 cup)
- water
- ¾–1 cup sugar
- ½ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
- Rinse 7 oz azuki beans and discard any broken beans. Drain.
- Transfer the drained azuki beans to a large pot. Add enough water to the pot to cover the beans by 1–2 inches.
- Place the pot on the stove and bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Once boiling, drain the beans in a fine-mesh sieve. Return the beans to the same pot.
- Next, add more water to the pot to cover the beans by 1–2 inches.
- Bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, put an otoshibuta (drop lid) over the beans. (The otoshibuta will prevent the beans from dancing around too much.) Turn down the heat to medium low and keep it simmering for the next 1–1½ hours.
- Some of the water will evaporate, so add more water to keep the beans covered, as needed. After 1 hour, check if the beans are cooked. Pick up a bean and mash it with your fingers. When it mashes easily, it‘s done.
To Make Tsubuan (Chunky Red Bean Paste)
- Drain the cooked azuki beans in a sieve.
- Return the beans to the same pot. Turn the heat to medium low and add half of the ¾–1 cup sugar.
- Mix well. Once the sugar has dissolved, add the rest of the sugar.
- Mix well, stirring constantly. Then, add ½ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt and stir.
- If you plan to use the red beans for Zenzai (Oshiruko), you can use it right away. If you prefer a thicker version, reduce the soup further.
- Let the moisture evaporate. When you can draw a line on the bottom of the pot with your spatula, turn off the heat. Don‘t worry if it‘s still loose; the anko will continue to thicken as it cools. Transfer the anko to a flat baking sheet to let it cool completely. The tsubuan is now ready to use in a variety of Japanese sweets such as Daifuku Mochi, Anpan, Red Bean Pancakes, and Matcha Zenzai (Red Bean Soup). Scroll down to see how to store it.
To Make Koshian (Fine Red Bean Paste)
- Reserve some of the cooking liquid. Then, drain the azuki beans in a sieve.
- Transfer the beans to a food processor. Run the food processor until the beans become a fine paste. If necessary, add 1–2 Tbsp cooking liquid to help process the beans.
- Transfer the fine paste back into the same cooking pot. Turn the heat to medium low and add half of the ¾–1 cup sugar.
- Mix well with the bean paste. Once the sugar has dissolved, add the rest of the sugar.
- Let the moisture evaporate, stirring constantly. Then, add ½ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt and stir.
- When you can draw a line on the bottom of the pot with your spatula, turn off the heat. Don‘t worry if it‘s still loose; the anko will continue to thicken as it cools. Transfer the anko to a flat baking sheet to let it cool completely. The koshian is now ready to use in a variety of Japanese sweets such as Strawberry Mochi (Ichigo Daifuku), Sakura Mochi, Manju, and Mizu Yokan.
To Store
- Transfer the Anko to an airtight container, cool, and store in the refrigerator for up to 3–4 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months. You can also divide and wrap 100 g portions of the bean paste in plastic film and store in a freezer bag. When you’re ready to use it, defrost it in the refrigerator overnight. Tip: Compared to store-bought red bean paste, homemade anko uses less sugar and therefore doesn‘t keep as long.
Nutrition
Make Delicious Recipes with Anko:
- Strawberry Mochi (Ichigo Daifuku)
- Mizu Yokan
- Daifuku Mochi
- Dorayaki (Japanese Red Bean Pancake)
- Red Bean Ice Cream
- Taiyaki
- Zenzai/Oshiruko (Red Bean Soup)
Editor’s Note: The post was originally published on March 12, 2012. The new images are added and the recipe instruction is slightly updated in March 2020.
Hi Nami!
I just made a batch of tsubuan specially for my husband who loves red bean! It was really nice! 🙂 I like it very much too.
Just a question. I felt that the appreance of my tsubuan looks a little dry whereas yours has some gloss. Did you add any oil to the paste? The only thing that I did differently was to use brown sugar instead of white sugar. thks! 🙂
Hi Zuyi! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! I think, if you stopped cooking a few minutes earlier, it won’t be as dry. I mentioned at Step 9, but even though you stopped cooking, moisture will continue to evaporate and the final result will be thicker than when you stopped cooking. Hope this helps!
Hi!
I have done all the steps but the red bean turn out watery and the beans still in shape. The result is far from what tsubuan should be but the taste is quite similar. What should i do about it?
Hi Sanny! First of all, Azuki has pretty hard shell, so unless you pinch between your fingers to check hardness, you may not know if the azuki beans are cooked through. You mentioned “watery”. Did you put too much water when you are boiling? The water level should be “just” above the beans, so it shouldn’t be watery. What do you use this for? If it’s for Zsenzai (red bean soup) etc, you don’t need to worry about the amount of water, but if you are going to make paste, beans shouldn’t have too much water.
Hi! I soaked my beans for full 24 hours straight and even though I have been cooking them for about 4 hours already they are not turning soft at all.
To be specific, I can crush them with my fingers, but the outer skin is quite hard, the interior feels more like crumbles instead of starchy and the taste is nutty,reminds me of that of peanuts. My bet about the reason for the long cooking time is that the beans must be old.
Should I cook them more or start pouring the sugar as is?
Hi Mawichan! Azuki skin is very hard compared to other beans. So when you can crush with your fingers, you might still feel the skin is harder (than inside beans). I’m not sure how hard it was, but you could crush it – usually you can’t if it is chunky and not soft if it’s not cooked long enough. I’m sorry for my late response, but did you add sugar to the beans? How did they turn?
I let them cook for one more hour then added the sugar but not even the inside got soft. I even tried applying a little bit of baking soda.
Sadly I had to throw the beans away. They were unedible. The beans must have been very old. They didn’t look like it, and the bad had no expiration date to be seen (labels were in english, so no problem reading the package). I will try to get fresher beans next time. Meanwhile, I will have to use my family’s dulce de frijol recipe (a mexican recipe made of pinto beans and piloncillo, which is very similar to japanese black sugar) to fill my bread buns… Just a little twist I guess. Thank you for the reply, and for such an easy to understand recipe 🙂
I’m so sorry to hear you had to throw away. I hate when that happens (especially after so much prep involved!). I usually my beans at a Japanese market and there are enough demands that I never had bad ones so far and didn’t know azuki beans can become bad like that. It’s good to know. Hope next time will be better. Your filling idea sounds very good and delicious! ???? Thank you for your complement on my instructions.
Who typed a complete lot to keep trim.
Hello Nami!
I just finished TSUBUAN,Very successful! Thank you very much! 🙂
Hi Nick! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe! Thanks so much for your kind feedback!
Hi~! Just want to ask whether I can substitute adzuki red beans with red kidney beans ?
Hi Rizq! I’m sorry to disappoint you, but you need azuki beans to make red bean paste. Kidney beans are read, but this “red bean” paste is actually azuki bean paste and can’t be replaced… 🙂
hi! after soaking for about 20 hs and boiling for the first 5 minutes my beans were already quite soft, and then when i started the slower cooking proccess it took me about 15 minutes to get them easily smushed. do you think it is because it was too much soaking time? could this have any consequenses in the final product? Thanks in advance!!
Hi Romi! I’ve never soaked for 20 hours but we say that the bean shells break too easily and destroyed when we soak for too long (so we avoid doing that). If it’s Koshi-an (when it’s all mushy), maybe the texture may not matter too much, but I don’t know about nutritious value etc… It’s basically not recommended. 🙂
hi,
Since I do not own a pressure cooker, do you think I could use a slow cooker to make this instead of stove top version?
When I was younger, I’ve seen my mother & church members make this in a ‘kama’ so I know how long it takes to make it on the stove.
Thanks!
Hi Helene! Yes, you can use a slow cooker to make it. 🙂
Hi.
Can I cook azuki red beans in a pressure cooker to make anko?
Hi Edison! Yes! I’m going to make a video… hopefully soon… 🙂 Hope you give it a try!
4 1/2 hours (plus overnight soak) later finally have my chunky red bean paste. Was about to chuck my beans at the 3 hour simmer mark but I remembered reading in Mr. Ajikko (an old cooking manga) that a bit of baking soda softens beans. Gave it a shot. 1 hour later tender beans and half an hour later, got my paste chilling on the counter.
So if your beans are still hard after 2 hours of cooking, try adding 1/8 teaspoon baking soda for roughly every cup of bean. It’ll taste soapy and harsh (cause baking soda is an alkaline) if you add way too much.
Hi Hondo! Thanks so much for your helpful tip on baking soda! I never had to use it, but I’ll remember your tip in case anyone needs extra help. 🙂
Hey!
I’ve tried this recipe before, but I normally use canned azuki beans and they come in 15oz cans, so I double up on the sugar, too. Is that wrong? Also, it always seems to harden because of the sugar… So what am I doing wrong?
Thank you for your help!
Hi Anuka! I’m sorry but this recipe is not for canned azuki beans. Are the canned beans already cooked? Seasoned, or just boiled? Sugar helps the azuki beans to be tender. 🙂
Hi! I successfully made this recipe using canned Azuki beans without added salt (Eden Organic brand). I searched for a conversion from dried beans to canned beans, and two 15-oz cans of beans is actually equivalent to 7 oz dried beans. Maybe your paste hardened because it had too much sugar?
I made Nami’s recipe as written, except for substituting two 15-oz cans of beans (with 200g sugar). I did have to add extra Tbs of cooking liquid when processing it, so check your texture. The end result turned out just like when I used dried beans, possibly even smoother. Good luck!
Hi namiko! Love your recipes , thanks for the hard work ! It’d be great if u could produce a video on how to make anko 🙂 thanks a lot for considering ! Sandra
Thank you so much for your request, Sandra! I’ll put it on my list of videos to make… 🙂
I wanted to asking if adzuki beans were the same as azuki beans? They look the same but this is my first time making this so I wanted to make sure!
Hi Taylor! We spell Azuki in Japan, but I think Adzuki is also a correct spelling. 🙂
Hi Nami,
I attempted to make the re bean paste today. It is cooling but I think there is too much liquid. Before adding the sugar, what should have been the level of water in the pot?
Hi Darlene! At step 9, when you draw a line on the bottom of the saucepan and see the surface for more than 2 seconds, add salt and turn off heat. Until then you reduce the water. 🙂
Hello Nami,
I’ve tried to follow this recipe a couple of times now, and of the two, the first was the most successful. I seem to be having difficulty with the 7th/8th steps; beyond a certain point the beans do not get significantly softer during the simmering, and in the finished paste (I got bored around 1hr30) I found there were still some rather hard beans which were unpleasant to eat. Other than that, the flavour and smell was good. I ended up mashing it with a paste for my purposes, and removing any hard beans I found. Perhaps you have some idea what my problem is?
Anyway, thanks for the detailed recipe, the pictures and all. I’m going to give this another shot later this week 😀
Hi Lark! Azuki beans are famous for hard outer skin. The new beans are softer, but the old beans are very hard which will take a longer time to cook. When the beans are boiled in a short period of time over high heat, the beans gets softer outside and inside remains hard. It’s recommended to add cold water several times while boiling so that we can reduce the temperature difference between outer and inner red beans. Your beans might be older beans, so make sure to soak in water for a bit longer time. Make sure to cook on low heat as well. 🙂 Good luck!
Hello again!
I tried again, and did some further research and experimentation. Supposedly adding the sugar gradually helps to prevent the beans from becoming hard during the later stages, as it draws moisture out of them. I can’t confirm this, but that seems to be the point at which my beans became most hard. I have also acquired some fresher beans which may perform better next time I try.
I tried a bunch of things with this batch – I tried blending them, but my blender isn’t very good. I also mashed them with a fork, which was successful with my first batch, but these were even harder. In the end I just forced them through a strainer – koshian style, but with the sugar already added – producing a very small quantity of smooth paste. I don’t recommend doing it this way around, as it’s probably easier before the sugar is added, when the beans are softer.
In the end the amount of smooth paste I had was not enough, so I mixed the remaining part of the beans (which still had a lot of useful flesh) with some cream, blended it, and pressed it into the strainer again. This more-or-less doubled my product, but I’m not sure whether to be proud or ashamed of what I have done XD
Hi Lark! Wow you are amazing! Thanks so much for sharing your cooking experience with us! I haven’t made koshian myself as it requires more steps… Your feedback will be very useful when I try! Thank you!!
Hello ???? A similar thing happened to me recently. I used old beans and didn’t cook them for long enough. However, I found that if you if you steam the anko in small portions it cooks the beans which are still tough without drying out the mixture ????
Thank you for sharing your tip Emily!