Adzuki beans

So I've heard about these beans for a while now! Oprah classes these as a super-food, loads of celebrities go on about the fact that they are the beans with the lowest number of calories and highest protein content and I always remember lovely Carol talking about these beans when I was living in the Lake district. Turns out that I had a big bag of these sitting in my cupboard of goodies! Bought these ages ago in Super U, classed as 'Red beans', but I'm sure that these must be readily available in Chinatown and other supermarkets. There are so many great recipes online using these beans, but I thought that I would first stick to their traditional use, in Asian desserts. I made Japanese dorayakis and 2 variations of Chinese red bean soup.

RED BEAN DORAYAKI
Dorayaki is a very famous Japanese dessert.Traditionally it consists of two light pancakes wrapped around a sweet adzuki bean filling. Variations to this traditional dessert are often seen in Western cafes serving simple flavours such as egg custards to more unusual bacon and cheese dorayakis.

The bean filling known as 'anko' was surprisingly easy to make! I remember making this with my uncle as a little girl (using lentils instead, perhaps adzuki beans weren't easily available back in the day) and taking almost half a day preparing this creamy filling. Not only did it take a long time, but was also full of sugar, butter and oil! So I decided to make a healthy version with just as tasty results!

To cook the beans: it is definitely worth soaking your beans a couple of hours/overnight before using them! Then boil them up in lots of water until they are very soft and turn into a puree when squeezed between two fingers.
To make about 6 heaped tablespoons of bean paste

• 2 large ladles of cooked & drained adzuki beans
• 4 tsp honey (add more if necessary)
• 1 heaped tsp of coconut oil

1. Using a blender or the back of a fork, mash up the beans until you obtain a smooth paste and fold in the honey.
2. In a hot frying pan, heat up the coconut oil and add in the bean paste. Fry the paste for a couple of minute, continuously pushing the mixture against the pan with the back of the spoon. Do so for about 5 minutes.

To make the pancakes- Makes about 10 individual pancakes= 5 dorayakis

• 1 egg
• 40 g self raising flour
• 0.5 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp honey

1. Whisk the egg and honey for a couple of minutes until frothy. 
2. Sift in the flour and baking powder and fold. You may need to add a few drops of water if necessary, you are looking for a pour-able batter which is slightly thicker than a crepe batter, to make fluffy dorayakis.
3. On a hot and well greased pan, pour on about half a tablespoon of batter and shape into a circle with the back of your spoon. Leave to bubble and flip. 

You should obtain a smooth and evenly brown side, which will be the exterior of the pancake parcel.

To stuff these, simply place a ball of the filling in the centre of one pancake, press the filling down to flatten it in order to leave a heaped/ raised centre, place on the other pancake and seal with a tight push all around.

  

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