Asia's enduring love affair with sweet bean preparations

A range of desserts and sweets feature red, black and mung beans in Japan, China, Thailand and beyond

- Raul Dias

Known multifariously as Girls’ Day, Dolls’ Festival, or Hinamatsuri, every year, the third day of March holds great significance for the Japanese. Celebrated since the dawn of the Heian Period (794-1195), families in Japan wish for the health and prosperity of their daughters (generally up to 10 years old). But this day also has one element that brings to the fore, the Japanese penchant for eating copious amounts of the famed adzuki or red bean in its sweet avatar of anko.

This delicacy is the result of stewing the overnight soaked adzuki beans in a sugar syrup and then mashing them till they yield to a form a thick, smooth paste. This paste goes into the sakura mochi that take prime position as the Hinamatsuri day’s de facto treat. These pink-hued sakura mochi rice cakes aremade with pounded glutinous mochi rice, stuffed with the aforementioned anko and covered with pickled cherry blossom leaves. This is because Hinamatsuri always falls during the island nation’s beloved cherry blossom season in early spring.

Seen in other forms of Japanese wagashi—as sweets are called here—the adzuki bean and anko paste is an acquired taste. But one that cannot be avoided if you really wish to get an immersive experience into the nuances of Japanese culture, customs and cuisine.