Red bean soup (红豆汤 Hóngdòu tāng) is the Chinese classic, Anko (餡子, あんこ) is the sweet filling used in Japanese deserts and Red bean porridge in Korea (팥죽patjug) has both a savoury and a sweet version. Here we have taken adzuki beans, pearl barley and red dates, soaked them overnight, pitted the dates then cooked everything to a paste with organic mandarin peel and apple latterly adding coconut nectar as a sweetener.

Credits: Ceri, Zenxin master chef

Print recipe: Red Bean Paste (Hóngdòu shā 红豆沙)

Key facts

Preparation: Overnight + 10 mins
Cooking time: 40 mins
Total: Overnight + 10 mins + 40mins
Serves: 6 – 8

Ingredient

1 cup ‘Simply Natural’ organic adzuki beans
¼ cup ‘Simply Natural’ organic pearl barley
10 pitted organic red dates
1 large organic jumbo fuji apple
1 piece of dried organic mandarin peel
5 cups filtered water
3 tbsp ‘Simply Natural’ organic coconut nectar sugar, added towards the end

Method:

Place adzuki beans in a bowl and cover with at least 2” filtered water to soak overnight.
Rinse barley & red dates and put to soak overnight, again well covered with water.
Drain and rise both the beans and the grains and put together in the chosen pot.
Add in the soaked, pitted red dates and mandarin peel.
Wash, core and peel the Jumbo apple and cut into the pot in small pieces.
Add the water and bring to the boil, then turn down to simmer for 40 mins

( For Thermomix 40 mins, 100°C Reverse, lowest speed)