Shiruko cook for 2 hours.
How to cook shiruko soup
Soup products
Red adzuki beans – 200 grams
Polished rice – 3/4 cup
Water for cooking soup – 1.5 liters
Sugar – 250 grams
Salt – 1/2 teaspoon
Preparing adzuki and rice
1. Pour 200 grams of well-washed adzuki into a deep bowl and pour in 2 cups of cool, clean water.
2. Soak 8 hours or overnight.
3. Rinse 3/4 cup of rice, pour clean water overnight (1 cup). Drain the used water.
4. Put the soaked rice in a saucepan, add 1 cup of fresh water, a pinch of salt.
4. Put on low heat, cook, moving the lid a little, until the liquid disappears.
How to cook shiruko soup
1. Drain the water from the adzuki, put the beans in a deep saucepan, pour fresh water (completely cover the beans with it), boil.
2. Rinse the beans in a colander with cool running water.
3. Return the beans to the pot, pour in fresh water again, boil, add 2 cups of cool water.
4. Cook the beans over low heat for 60 minutes, opening the lid and removing the pop-up foam with a spoon or fine strainer.
5. Add boiled water if the liquid in the pan evaporates quickly.
6. Remove the pan from the heat when the adzuki becomes soft (to check this, you need to pierce the beans with a fork), cool slightly.
7. Grind the boiled adzuki into a smooth paste (with a pestle or blender), add 250 grams of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the paste, mix well.
8. Pour a small amount of boiling water into the adzuki paste and mix – the result should be a creamy consistency.
9. Pound the boiled rice with a pestle or chop with a blender, periodically wetting the rice mass with water (the mass should become slightly sticky).
10. Form balls or small cakes.
11. Put the mochi cakes on the plates and pour the shiruko soup.
Tasty Facts
– The Japanese respectfully call this puree soup “o-shiruko” – the use of a respectful prefix emphasizes the important place of shiruko in national cuisine.
– Another Japanese variety of shiruko soup – not made from pasta, but from whole beans – is called zenzai. In China, a similar dish is called hundousha – it is served hot in winter, and chilled in summer, in the heat it is used to make ice cream on a stick. In Korea, the analogue of shiruko is called phatchuk.
“According to legend, patchuk soup is able to protect them from any evil, especially from diseases: the red color symbolizes powerful positive energy. The nutritiousness of the soup is also symbolic: it is a ritual dish that has been served since ancient times in order to reap a rich harvest in the future.
– Adzuki contains a lot of protein and is very useful: it contains vitamin E (supports the health of the skin, blood vessels, metabolism) and B6 (strengthens the immune and nervous system), phosphorus (regulates the brain, good for muscles), magnesium (gives energy , eliminates toxins), calcium (provides metabolic processes, healthy bones and the cardiovascular system), fiber (stabilizes digestion).
– Soaking red beans before cooking not only makes them softer and tastier. Soaking adzuki is necessary for better absorption: water dissolves the bitter substance tannin and other components that lead to indigestion.
Mochi are Japanese glutinous rice cakes that are a bit like dumplings. They are eaten all year round, but especially on New Year’s Eve: mochi are believed to bring good luck. In Japan, hot soup shiruko with rice cakes is usually served as a warming dish in winter. In a heartier version, shiruko is served with chopped sausage.