Zenzai (Japanese Red Bean Soup with Toasted Mochi)
Zenzai is a sweet and comforting soup made with red adzuki beans and sugar topped with chewy toasted mochi. Make this warming winter treat from scratch at home with just 5 ingredients!
- Prep time
- 5 min
- Cook time
- 1 hr 30 min
- Yield
- 5 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 200 g dry adzuki beans
- cold water (for washing and boiling)
- 180 g sugar (increase or decrease by 10% depending on your preferred sweetness.)
- 1 pinch salt
- 5 pieces cut rice cakes (kirimochi) (optional)
Instructions
- 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.
- 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.
- 3
Use a colander to drain the beans and discard the first batch of water.
- 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.
- 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.
- 6
Once 40-60 minutes have passed, test a bean by running it under cold water and then squashing it between your thumb and forefinger. If you can spread it like a paste it's ready. If not, continue to simmer and test a bean every 10-15 minutes until thoroughly softened.
- 7
When the beans are soft enough, add 180 g sugar and mix over the heat until dissolved.
- 8
Taste test to check the sweetness, if it's not sweet enough you can add more sugar. Once you're happy with the sweetness, add a generous pinch of salt to balance the flavour.
- 9
Toast the kirimochi on both sides using an oven toaster or grill/broiler feature on your regular oven. I usually place mochi on a piece of foil to prevent sticking. Place the toasted mochi in the center of the serving bowl and pour the red bean soup around it. Enjoy!