Japanese Ice Cream: How to Make Azuki Red Bean Ice Cream

• ½ cup of water
  
• ½ cup of granulated sugar
  
• 1 can red bean paste (anko) or 2 cups – you can make your own by
  
• ? cup of milk
• 4 Tbsp sweetened condensed milk
• 2 bowls (one large and one small)
• wooden spoon
• medium pot or saucepan
• ice
• ice cream maker (a whisk, electric whisk or electric mixer)
• red or pink food coloring (optional)

How to Make Red Bean Ice Cream:

Turn your stove to medium heat and add sugar and water to a medium pot. Occasionally stir the mixture with a wooden spoon until all the sugar has melted. Next, add the bean paste and vigorously mix until the mixture becomes smooth. Once the paste has thoroughly mixed, add the mix and stir all the ingredients together. Raise the heat on the stove until it comes to a boil. Once it reaches boiling point, remove the pot from the stove. Fill the large bowl with water and ice, place the smaller bowl inside of the larger bowl. Pour the mixture into the small bowl and stir the mixture so it cools evenly. Once the mixture is cooled, pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and place in the freezer for a few hours before serving with condensed milk.

Option for those without an ice cream maker: the reason we use ice cream makers is because we don’t want large ice crystals to form in the ice cream making it crunchy. An option is to freeze the ice cream once it has cooled in a glass or stainless steel dish (casserole dishes work fine). Freeze it for about 30 minutes, then take it out and hand whisk or use an electric mixer to smooth out the crystals. Repeat this process freezing and mixing 1 or 2 more times.