Japanese cuisine · Dough, Pasta & Rice

Sekihan

Glutinous rice steamed pink-red with azuki beans and their cooking water — festive rice for joyful occasions.

Ingredients · for 6 servings

• 400 g glutinous rice
• 100 g azuki beans (dried)
• 800 ml water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp sake
• 1 tbsp black sesame seeds
• 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt

Instructions

1. Pick over and wash the azuki beans and set them on to boil with 800 ml water; bring to a boil once, drain, cover again with 800 ml fresh water and simmer for 25–30 min., until the beans are soft but the skins haven't burst yet.
2. Drain the beans, catching the reddish cooking water; pour the water back into a bowl repeatedly from a height of about 30 cm until it visibly darkens through contact with air.
3. Wash the glutinous rice until the water stays clear, then soak it in the reserved bean water for at least 4 hours, better overnight — this is how it takes on the red color.
4. Drain the rice, reserving the soaking water, mix the rice with the salt and sake and combine it loosely with the beans.
5. Put the mixture into a steamer lined with a damp cloth, spread flat and steam over boiling water for 35–40 min.; sprinkle it twice with the reserved bean water so the rice doesn't dry out.
6. Loosen the finished rice gently with a wooden spatula, fill into bowls and serve warm sprinkled with the black sesame seeds and coarse sea salt.