Azuki Bar (あずきバー, frozen red bean popsicle)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Medium heavy pot
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Popsicle molds with sticks

Instructions

1. 1

   Rinse the beans

   Rinse the azuki in a bowl of cold water, rubbing them lightly with your fingers, then drain. Pick out any split beans or grit. This is a plain sweet, so the bean flavor has nowhere to hide.

2. 2

   Discard first boil

   Put the beans in a pot with plenty of fresh water and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes, then drain. This first boil, called shibukiri, removes some of the harshness from the skins so the finished bar tastes clean, not muddy.

3. 3

   Simmer until tender

   Return the beans to the pot with 1.2 liters water. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook, uncovered, 50 to 70 minutes, adding a little water if the beans rise above the surface. They are ready when one bean crushes easily between finger and thumb. Do not add sugar yet. Sugar tightens the skins before the centers soften, and then no sermon from the stove will save them.

   Keep the simmer quiet. A hard boil breaks the beans and clouds the broth before the flavor has settled.
4. 4

   Sweeten slowly

   Stir in the sugar in two additions, waiting 3 minutes between them, then add the mizuame and salt. Simmer 10 to 15 minutes more, until the broth tastes clearly sweet and the beans are glossy. The syrup helps the frozen bar bite cleanly instead of turning icy and brittle.

5. 5

   Measure the mixture

   You should have about 700 to 750 ml of sweet bean mixture. If it is much thinner, simmer a few minutes longer. If it is too thick, add hot water by the spoonful. The bars need enough broth to freeze around the beans, but not so much water that the flavor disappears.

6. 6

   Fill the molds

   Let the mixture cool until warm, then spoon it into popsicle molds, dividing the beans evenly. Tap the molds gently on the counter to settle the beans and release large air pockets. Insert sticks and leave a little headroom, since the mixture expands as it freezes.

7. 7

   Freeze solid

   Freeze at least 6 hours, preferably overnight. Unmold by dipping the outside of each mold briefly in cool water, not hot. Hot water melts the surface too fast and blurs the clean shape you waited for.

8. 8

   Eat slowly

   Serve straight from the freezer and give it a minute before biting hard. Azuki bar is meant to be firm at first, then to soften little by little, releasing the bean flavor as the ice relaxes.

Chef Tips

• •Choose dried azuki with a deep red color and a little shine, and avoid bags with many broken beans. Old beans take longer to soften and give a duller broth.
• •Mizuame is the Japanese starch syrup used in sweets. Light corn syrup is a sensible stand-in here because it does the same work in the freezer, keeping the texture from becoming all hard ice.
• •Do not puree the whole pot. A few broken beans are welcome, but this bar should keep the small pleasure of whole azuki suspended in the ice.
• •The bars are firm by nature. Let one stand for a minute before eating, especially if your freezer runs very cold.

Advance Preparation

• •The sweetened azuki mixture can be made 2 days ahead and kept refrigerated before freezing.
• •Frozen azuki bars keep well for 1 month, wrapped or stored in an airtight container once unmolded.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 110g)