In those long ago days, akamai, an ancient variety of rice with reddish color (aka also meant red color, mai usually referring to uncooked rice grains) was cooked and offered as an oblation to the sacred spirits. Long cherished in both China and Japan, the color red was seen as a metaphor for the life force, and was believed to embody mystical power that would ward off evil. The rice gains a lovely pink color due to cooking it with some of the liquid that the azuki have been boiled in.
Individual households serve it as well for special personal occasions such as the birth of a baby, entrance to or graduation from school, birthdays, coming of age ceremonies, retirement, etc. This rice dish is made by preparing partially cooked azuki and glutinous rice (sometimes a bit of regular rice is added as well, but proportions differ depending on the region) together, and is usually served at festivals, celebratory events, and the like. Sekihan ( seki=red color, han=cooked rice), is one of the typical ways to cook with azuki. The beans were introduced to Japan around the 3rd century, and cultivation began there about the 8th century.
Via word of mouth, azuki became known as a medicinally beneficial food, said to prevent the formation of blood clots due to saponin in the beans' outer skin, aiding in recovery from fatigue, helping to reduce swelling, ease constipation, etc., and it become a highly prized food among the ruling classes throughout many East Asian countries. As documented in an ancient Chinese pharmaceutical text, the broth from cooking the beans was used as a counterpoison. Said to have originated in East Asia, it was discovered in its cultivated, or domestic form, and, interestingly enough, has no known wild counterpart. Let's find out where these little red beans came from, and how they earned such an important position in Japanese cuisine!Īzuki, a member of the legume family, is an annual vine. Even people unfamiliar with the word azuki probably have heard of "red bean ice cream" and there are likely quite more than a few who have enjoyed that cool, creamy confection! But, when first hearing about cooked beans mixed with sugar, undoubtedly there were folks who thought hmmm…!? But in Japanese food culture, delicious sweet red bean paste, made from azuki beans, is a much loved and indispensable ingredient in Japanese confections. After they entered Japanese culture, they had their own unique evolution, or "Japanization", which in turn influenced other cultures. More polyphenols than red wine, abundant in fiber and minerals-the little brownish-red beans, azuki, are considered to be the second most important legume in Japan after soybeans.
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