Azuki Bar is a popular frozen popsicle in Japan made from sweet Azuki red bean paste. This cool treat has been enjoyed for its nutty flavor and grainy bean texture for decades. Azuki Bar contains nothing complicated or artificial, but it’s pleasantly sweet and full of flavor. It looks just like any popsicle with a stick. It’s a wonderful cold dessert during Japan’s brutally hot and humid summers, but it also can be eaten all year round.
Azuki Bar was created by Imuraya, a long-established Japanese confectionery company, in the 1970s. Imuraya developed this product with the desire to offer the traditional taste of Azuki beans as a modern ice cream product. From its initial release, they were committed to a manufacturing process that preserved the flavor of Azuki beans without any artificial ingredients. Over time, as manufacturing technology evolved, Azuki Bar has developed its current palatable flavor and texture.
Azuki Bar is known for being harder than many other ice pops. This hardness has become one of the product’s distinctive features. As it uses Azuki bean paste as the main ingredient and due to the dense packing of simple ingredients, there is little air content, which makes it harder when frozen. Additionally, there are no additives such as emulsifiers or stabilizers (which make food softer) are used. This characteristic hardness is loved by many fans as part of Azuki Bar’s unique eating experience.
Azuki Bar takes some time to prepare because of cooking beans and freezing, but the cooking steps are quite simple. It’s pretty much the same as making Anko (sweet red bean paste) with extra water, so it’s very easy to make in a home kitchen. The only thing you need are popsicle molds, but they’re easily found at many stores or online. Interestingly, if you get tired of eating Azuki Bar as popsicles (if that happens), you can turn the bars into Zenzai (sweet red bean soup) by defrosting and heating them up. Heat them in the microwave or over the stove, adjusting with some water, and you then have a hot soup. If you like Anko sweet red bean, this is a must-try dessert. Hope you give it a try this summer!
Azuki Bar
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Equipment
Instructions
- Wash the red beans, and boil them in a large pot with 4 cups of water over medium heat about 5 minutes. Strain, then return the beans to the pot. Add 2 cups of fresh water, and cook for 10-15 minutes if using a pressure cooker. Or cook in a regular pot for 1 hour over medium-low heat, adding water occasionally to keep the beans submerged. Press them with your fingers to check if they are soft enough to mash. Once softened, boil off most of the remaining water.
- When water is almost gone, mash the beans halfway with the back of a spatula. Add the sugar in three parts, stirring and cooking over medium low heat for 5 minutes in between each addition. Finally add 1 1/4 cups (300 ml) of water to the red bean paste and simmer to thin it out for a minute. Remove from heat.
- Pack the thinned red bean paste into ice cream bar molds. Insert plastic or wooden sticks into them. Place them in the freezer for one day to allow them to freeze and set completely.
- Pour tap water over the molds, then pull the sticks to remove the frozen popsicles.
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