Classic Sekihan: Japanese Adzuki Beans and Rice
By: Sheri Wetherell
Published: Tuesday, May 30, 2017 - 2:37pm

Ingredients




1 cup adzuki beans
Water for cooking
2 cups short grain rice
1 cup medium grain white rice
2 teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2-3 drops vinegar (optional)
Black sesame seeds or gomashio (black sesame seeds with salt) to garnish (optional)

Preparation

1 Prepare the beans: 2 Rinse the beans. Add beans to a medium pot and cover with plenty of water. Bring to a boil over medium heat, and cook for three minutes. 3 Slowly add cold water to the pot to cool it down. When the water is lukewarm, leave the beans for 10 minutes, then drain. 4 Put the drained beans back into the pot with 5 cups water. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce heat to a simmer. 5 Simmer beans on low for 1 hour (note: when bitten, the center of the beans should still be a little undercooked after an hour). Drain, reserving the cooking liquid. Cover and let both the beans and liquid cool. 6 Prepare the rice: 7 Rinse the rice and drain for an hour then put the rice and cooked beans in a rice cooker. 8 Add water to the bean cooking liquid to bring it up to 2 cups. Add sugar, salt and vinegar to the liquid and stir before pouring into a rice cooker. 9 Cook the rice at the regular rice setting.

About

Sekihan, or red rice, is a classic Japanese dish of Adzuki beans and rice. It is often garnished with black sesame seeds or a combination of black sesame seeds and salt (known as gomashio). It's typically served on special holidays in Japan, but recently has been enjoyed instead of white rice due to the high nutritional content of the beans, which are loaded in fiber, B-vitamins, protein, minerals and polyphenols.
This recipe was adapted from the Japan Times.