Zenzai (Japanese Red Bean Soup with Toasted Mochi)

Method9 steps · about 1 hr 40 min

1. 1

   Step 1: Pour 200 g dry adzuki beans into a sieve placed over a large mixing bowl. Fill the bowl with water and swish the beans around to wash them. Repeat 1-2 times and remove any damaged beans.

   Uses 200 g dry adzuki beans · Separate cold water for rinsing the dry beans

   
2. 2

   Step 2: Drain the beans and add them to a saucepan. Fill the pot with cold water so that the beans are covered by 2.5cm (1 inch) of water. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

   Pre-simmer beans · 20 minUses Washed drained adzuki beans · Fresh cold water for the first simmer

   
3. 3

   Step 3: Use a colander to drain the beans and discard the first batch of water.

   Uses Beans after their twenty-minute initial simmer

   
4. 4

   Step 4: Return the beans to the saucepan and fill with fresh cold water (enough to cover the beans by 2.5cm/1"- approx 500ml per 100g of beans). Bring to a boil over medium heat once more, then reduce to a simmer.

   Uses Beans drained of their discarded first-simmer water · Fresh cold water for the second simmer

   
5. 5

   Step 5: Place a drop lid on top of the beans to keep them submerged and simmer for 40-70 minutes. Check them from time to time to make sure the beans are always fully submerged, add more water if necessary (about 100ml at a time). Remove any scum that forms on the surface using a mesh spoon.

   Simmer adzuki beans · 70 minUses Beans in their fresh second-simmer water · Extra water only as needed to keep the beans submerged

   
6. 6

   Step 6: Start testing after 40 minutes of the second simmer. Cool one bean under cold water, then press it between thumb and finger: it should spread like a paste. If firm, continue the same simmer and retest every 10–15 minutes until fully soft, topping up cooking water as needed. This is a check within that cooking phase, not an additional 40–60 minute wait.

   Uses Adzuki beans during the forty-to-seventy-minute second simmer · A little cold water to cool one test bean

   
7. 7

   Step 7: When the beans are soft enough, add 180 g sugar and mix over the heat until dissolved.

   Uses Fully tender adzuki beans with their cooking liquid · 180 g sugar (increase or decrease by 10% depending on your preferred sweetness.)

   
8. 8

   Step 8: Taste the cooked sweetened soup and add separate optional extra sugar only if needed. Add the generous pinch of salt, stir thoroughly and take off the heat.

   Uses Sweetened cooked red-bean soup · Extra sugar to adjust sweetness after cooking, optional · 1 pinch salt

   
9. 9

   Step 9: If using kirimochi, toast the five pieces on a foil-lined tray in a toaster oven or under the broiler, watching closely. Once golden on top, turn and toast the other side. Place one toasted piece in each of five bowls and spoon the prepared sweet red-bean soup around it. Serve the soup without mochi if omitting that optional topping.

   Uses Finished sweet red-bean soup · 5 pieces plain kirimochi rice cakes, optional