Adzuki bean
The dried seed of the adzuki bean (Vigna angularis), a small round reddish-brown bean, plumper and sweeter than the slimmer medicinal rice bean (赤小豆) it is often confused with. In savoury soups it boils down to a soft, faintly sweet grain that colours and bodies the broth, and it is also the classic bean of red bean sweet soup.
TCM properties
Nature · neutral Flavour · sweet Meridians · heart、small intestine
Traditional food therapy
In Cantonese food therapy red bean is used to promote water flow and support the spleen; folk tradition also credits it with nourishing the heart blood.
Cautions: read first
- People with gout should take care (beans are high in purines; the whole pot of black bean, adzuki bean and fish tail soup is off the list for gout).
Preparation
Rinse well and soak for 1 to 2 hours so they soften more easily.
Origin
Mainly grown in northern China, where the Tianjin small red bean is the well-known export strain; Hokkaido adzuki from Japan is also famous. No direct AU observation; retail packs labelled 'adzuki' overlap confusingly with rice bean (赤小豆) stock
Availability in Australia
Easy to find
