Shiro An is sweet white bean paste, and it is a crucial ingredient for Japanese traditional confectioneries, just like Anko sweet red bean paste. Shiro An is made from white kidney beans and sugar. It’s used in a lot of different forms of desserts in Japan, from fresh Mochi desserts such as Fruit Daifuku to baked Manju so it is a great recipe to know if you like making Japanese sweets.
Unlike red Anko, prepared Shiro An is much harder to find outside Japan, even at Japanese supermarkets, so you may have to make it yourself if you want to use it in your cooking. It is quite simple to make at home with easy steps and easy to find ingredients. While it’s not difficult, it can be time consuming. That said, this version of Shiro An is very simplified. A lot of Japanese confectionery artisans have devoted their lives to perfect their Anko making. Our Shiro An is still very good for you to enjoy, without years of trainings and more complicated steps.
If you want to skip step 2 of removing the skins of the beans, you can. But that extra step lets you have a silkier texture for the Shiro An. How hard Shiro An should be depends on what it is used for afterward. If it’s scooped inside Dorayaki (Anko sandwiched between sweet pancakes) or An Pan, being softer is desirable; however, if it’s used to be shaped in any way, Shiro An needs to be firmer and not sticky to handle. To adjust the firmness of Shiro An, simply change the cooking time. If you want softer, cook less, and firmer, cook longer.
Try our Shiro An recipe, and your Japanese sweets reptoire will expand dramatically!
Shiro An Recipe
*Links may contain ad. #CommissionsEarned
Instructions
- Soak beans in 3 cups of water overnight (8 hours or longer).
- Remove skins. *This step is not absolutely necessary, but the end result is much smoother.
- Cook beans in water in a large pot at high heat. Let boil for a few minutes, then drain.
- In a clean pot with 3 cups of water, cook beans for 2 hours, taking care that water doesn’t get below the top of the beans and they stay submerged. Or cook in a pressure cooker for 20 minutes. Check if beans are completely soft.
- Take beans out of water with a skimmer, and retain the water. Process the beans in a food processor with 1/4 cup of the retained water (add a little more water if it’s still too thick).
- Put the bean mixture back into a large pot, add sugar, and cook until thickened. Cook about 5 minutes for softer Anko for scooping, and about 10 minutes for thicker Anko for shaping.
Video
