From $3.50
Adzuki beans occupy a unique and genuinely fascinating position in the global legume pantry, because they are one of the very few beans that is as celebrated and as widely used in sweet preparations as it is in savoury ones, and the ease with which they move between the two categories is one of their most extraordinary and most useful qualities. Small, deep burgundy-red, and slightly oblong with a distinctive pale stripe running along one side, they have been a cornerstone of Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and broader East Asian cooking and confectionery for thousands of years, forming the sweet red bean paste that fills mochi, dorayaki, taiyaki, and mooncakes and the savoury bean preparations that appear alongside rice and in soups and stews across an entire continent. Grown in Australia and delivering a clean, reliable, and high-quality bean with 20g of protein per 100g, these adzuki beans bring the full versatility of this beloved legume to the Australian home cook with excellent local provenance. Grandma always appreciated the ingredients that refused to be confined to a single role, and adzuki beans are one of the most compellingly versatile legumes in the pantry.
Flavour Profile: Dried adzuki beans have a mild, slightly sweet, and pleasantly earthy flavour with a nutty, clean character and a naturally sweet undertone that is more pronounced than most other dried beans and makes them uniquely suited to sweet applications without requiring large amounts of added sugar to make them palatable in a dessert context. When cooked they develop a soft, creamy, and gently dense texture with a smooth, fine interior and a thin, tender skin that holds together well during cooking rather than splitting and disintegrating the way some larger beans do. Their natural sweetness deepens when cooked with sugar into a paste, producing a rich, warmly flavoured, and deeply satisfying confectionery ingredient that is one of the most beloved and most widely consumed sweet preparations in East Asian food culture.
How to Use It: Dried adzuki beans are more forgiving and faster to cook than many other dried beans, and while soaking is recommended for the most consistent results it is less strictly necessary than with larger, denser legumes like faba beans or chickpeas. For the most reliable and most evenly cooked result, soak in cold water for four to eight hours before draining, rinsing, and cooking in fresh cold water. Bring to the boil and then reduce to a gentle simmer for approximately 45 to 60 minutes until completely tender, testing regularly from the 40-minute mark as adzuki beans can go from perfectly tender to splitting and mushy relatively quickly if left unattended past their ideal point. Do not add salt or acidic ingredients until fully tender as with all dried legumes, and skim any foam from the surface during the first few minutes of cooking. For sweet red bean paste, or anko, cook the beans until completely soft and then mash or blend with sugar to the desired consistency, adjusting the sweetness and texture to suit the specific application, with a coarser, more textured tsubuan style paste generally preferred for everyday use and a smoother, more refined koshian style paste preferred for more delicate confectionery applications. For savoury preparations, season after cooking and use as you would any other cooked legume.
Recipes Where Adzuki Beans Shine: Japanese anko, the sweet red bean paste made from adzuki beans cooked and mashed with sugar that fills mochi, daifuku, dorayaki pancake sandwiches, taiyaki fish-shaped waffles, and a remarkable range of Japanese wagashi confectionery, is the single most iconic and most broadly beloved application of this bean and one that is entirely achievable at home with dried adzuki beans, sugar, and patience, producing a result of far superior quality to commercially prepared tinned paste. A traditional Japanese sekihan, the ceremonial red rice preparation made by cooking glutinous rice alongside adzuki beans until the rice takes on the characteristic deep pink colour from the beans and is served at celebrations and auspicious occasions, is one of the most visually beautiful and culturally significant rice preparations in Japanese cooking and one that requires nothing more than good glutinous rice, adzuki beans, and a little salt and sesame to produce. Chinese red bean soup, a simple, lightly sweetened dessert soup of slow-cooked adzuki beans in a clear, gently flavoured broth with rock sugar and sometimes dried tangerine peel or lotus seeds, is one of the most comforting and most broadly consumed traditional Chinese sweet soups and one of the easiest and most rewarding preparations a home cook can make with a bag of dried adzuki beans. Korean patbingsu, the beloved shaved ice dessert topped with sweetened red bean paste, rice cakes, fresh fruit, and condensed milk that has become one of the most celebrated and most widely recognised Korean street foods internationally, depends entirely on a generous layer of well-made sweet red bean paste for its identity and its deeply satisfying flavour. A hearty Japanese-style adzuki bean and root vegetable nimono, the slow-simmered savoury preparation of adzuki beans, daikon, carrot, and burdock root in a dashi, soy, and mirin broth, demonstrates the savoury versatility of this bean and produces a deeply flavoured, warmly satisfying side dish that is a staple of Japanese home cooking across the colder months.
Good to Know: Adzuki beans are naturally gluten free, dairy free, and vegan in their pure dried form, making them suitable for a wide range of dietary requirements and one of the more broadly inclusive legumes available for households managing multiple dietary needs simultaneously. They are grown in Australia, which is a genuine point of difference for those who prefer locally sourced pantry staples, and their nutritional profile of 20g of protein per 100g makes them a worthwhile addition to a gluten free diet where getting adequate plant-based protein from varied whole food sources requires deliberate planning. Please note this product is manufactured and packed in a facility that also processes peanuts, tree nuts, soybeans, sesame seeds, gluten, and sulphites, which is an important consideration for anyone managing severe allergies to any of these substances. As with all dried legumes, introducing adzuki beans gradually into the diet and ensuring adequate water intake alongside their consumption is sensible advice for those not accustomed to eating legumes regularly, and their relatively small size and thinner skin generally makes them easier to digest than larger, denser bean varieties.
Manufactured and packed in a facility that also processes peanuts, tree nuts, soybeans, sesame seeds, gluten, and sulphites.
Store in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight. Large amounts may need to be ordered in. Allow 14 business days for it to arrive at GPO.
