Semi-sweet Anko Recipe

For the last few months, I've been making steamed buns for my daughter's dinner on the road. Being food obsessed as I am, I like to make things fresh. When I make red bean buns, I was using canned Anko. It was very convenient and easy, but sweeter than I like. I finally decided to make my own and started to look at different recipes online. In the past, I've used recipes from Cooking with Dog. They have a anko recipe.

I looked at several other anko recipes including this one.

Based on the recipes I looked at, the ratio of azuki beans to sugar seems to be 1-to-1. Like most of my recipes I half the sugar and add other flavors to give it depth. Here's my recipe.

1 cup dried Azuki beans
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 Tsp cinnamon
4 Tbsp honey
1 Tsp salt
3 cups water

Prep
I make the anko a day or in advance of when I need it and store it in the frig. Start by soaking dried anko beans for 12-16 hours. What I do is put the beans in a pot and add 4-5 cups of water. The next morning I drain the water and add fresh water. Soak for another 2-4 hours.

Cook
In a pot bring the beans to a boil and then turn it down to medium for 5 minutes. Drain the water and rinse the pot. This gets rid of the bitterness. Bring the beans to a boil again and simmer for 5 minutes and drain. If you're in a rush, you can skip the second simmer and rinse.

Put the beans back in the pot. Add cinnamon, salt, light brown sugar and 3 cups of water. Bring it to a boil and turn it down to medium low. Cook for 30 minutes and check if the beans are soft. At this point, they should be getting soft. Turn the heat to low and cook for another 30 minutes uncovered to evaporate some of the water. Every 5 minutes give it a stir. Turn off the heat and let the beans cool for 15minutes. Add 1 tbsp of honey at a time into the beans and stir. Taste the beans to see if you want more or less honey. I like 2-3 tablespoon of honey.

Let the anko cool down and then store it in the frig. It should last 1-2 weeks in the frig.