Rice Cooker Anko

Classic recipes for anko can be complicated, and often include cooking the beans multiple times on the stove. However, contemporary Japanese cooks look no further than their rice cookers for a quick and easy hack. One cycle in a simple rice cooker turns the red beans tender. (In more complicated cookers, the most basic white rice setting works just fine.) After that, all that’s left to do is sweeten to taste. This process creates tsubuan (chunky anko) as opposed to koshian (smooth, strained anko). Once the beans are cooked, make sure there is enough water in the pot for the sugar to dissolve, adding a little more as needed; keep in mind that the warm jam should be slightly runnier than you would like to eat it as it will thicken significantly as it cools.

Do note that the quality of your beans is very important here. Azuki beans that have been sitting on the shelf for too long might not cook as quickly or evenly. Order them directly from a trusted purveyor or buy them from your local Asian grocery store and for the best results, don’t cut the soak-time short. While ordinary white sugar works just fine, a deep muscovado sugar results in an even more delicious adzuki bean jam.