Koshian
By: Helen Pitlick
Published: Friday, January 1, 2010 - 12:07am

Ingredients




1 cup Adzuki beans
2 cups Sugar
1/4 teaspoon Salt

Preparation

1 Wash beans well. Simmer with 4 cups water about 40-50 minutes. Add water if needed to keep the beans covered. When you can squash a bean easily between your fingers, drain the beans and mash them. In a mesh basket over a large bowl, strain the bean mixture in batches by pushing through the mesh under running water (the idea is to leave the bean skins in the basket). 2 Put the liquid you strained into a linen/cotton bag (about 25 cm x 25 cm or 12" x 12"), and squeeze out the water with your hands by twisting the bag. 3 Have a large bowl of water, and knead the bag in the water (this is to get the bitterness out) changing the water several times. Squeeze the water out at the end as much as possible. 4 Add an equal amount of sugar into a saucepan with the bean paste from the bag. Mix with a wooden spoon and knead over low heat (careful not to burn it). Add salt and mix to desired "stiffness."

About


Koshian is frequently used as a filling in Japanese pastries. You can also make a sugar syrup first with an equal amount (weight) of sugar, 40% water, and 1% salt. Then add the bean paste and mix well over low heat. White "an" can be made the same way using white beans. Change the water during the initial boiling 2-3 times to make sure the beans stay white. Also, very important in the last step not to start burning!