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This Food in History #15 Red Bean Paste

Soph

Hello and welcome to this episode of This Food in History! Today we are looking at a filler food that is often used inside sweets. Most often associated in the states with Japan, we are looking at Red Bean Paste. 

I was introduced to red bean paste through Red bean paste buns from Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away when Chiharu eats one on the balcony of the bathhouse. I did a homemade version and really enjoyed it. It’s not as savory as you’d expect it to be, and with steamed buns is a really nice, smooth, slightly sweet texture. 

The internet tells me that red bean paste is considered a Traditional Japanese confectionery and a staple. It has spent centuries in their recipes. The red beans are called azuki. The first mention of azuki is in 325 BCE China, in Guanzi [The Book of Master Kuan] under the name xishu. The actual date and name though is uncertain at this point. However Azuki were domesticated as early as 3000 BCE. 

They made an appearance in 1200 in China, in their first cookbook: Wushi Zhongguilu [Madam Wu’s Recipe Book]. One sweet recipe, a dumpling made to celebrate the Double Fifth Festival calls for a rich stuffing that includes azuki. The Double Fifth Festival is named this colloquially due to it taking place on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar. It is also known as the Dragon Boat Festival which has various legends around it. One is the death of poet Chu Yuan, who drowned on this day in 278 BCE when the country’s capital was captured.  He waded into the river in response. One event in the festival is boat races to save him from his fate. 

The azuki itself was also considered a medicine in China as the shape of kidney beans represented the kidney and so were believed to give humans strength. Interestingly, Korea also has a tradition about the beans warding off evil spirits and entities and the red color represents yang energy which expels wickedness and infectious diseases. A popular gift to students involves the red bean paste with this in mind. 

The Chinese had a filling made of meat and vegetables they called anko that filled buns. They brought this over to Japan in the 7th Century, a period in Japan called the Asuka period, also referred to as the Hakuhō period. While this bun traveled, Buddhist monks wanted a meat alternative so they used red bean paste. It closely resembled anko and would have been slightly salty at this time. 

So how did this turn into the sweetened version we have today? During the Muromachi and Azuchi-Momoyama eras. During this time, the tea ceremony was becoming popular with samurai and nobles. Japanese confectionery started developing as well. The red bean paste buns, known as manjū, is considered a luxury food since it’s shared with nobles. The original sweetener was a boiled down ivy sap but the Dutch introduced sugar through imports. And then sugar production in Japan increased during the Edo era (the years 1603 until 1868), after increased imports with Spain and Portugal and it was used as a replacement to achieve the sweet taste. Doriyaki (red bean filled pancakes) and yokan red bean jelly were invented around this time as well. Sugar became so popular that around 1,375 tons were imported in only Nagasaki Bay, which is valued in modern day as around 22 million. 

In 1854, Admiral Commodore Perry got credit for bringing Azuki to the United States and soy sauce. However it’s not until 1910 that the first red bean jam and azuki bean paste were used in English by Jukichi Inouye in his book, Home Life in Tokyo. Tanaka and Nicholas in The Pleasures of Japanese Cooking called it sweetened red bean paste and strained red bean paste in 1963. 

Now we can find red bean paste in many, many different dishes out of Japan, China, Korea and in recipes used all over the world. 

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