Adzuki bean (with recipe)

          This small, dark red bean looks almost too good to eat, more like a polished stone to be treasured than to be treated as a mere dried bean. Dark red is how we usually see it, though straw-colored, brown, and even black adzuki beans are also to be found.

          The adzuki is native to Japan, where it is valued highly for its vitamin and mineral content. Those who follow a macrobiotic regimen use it in an endless variety of ways-alone as a vegetable, mixed with rice or other grains, even as pie filling. The juice derived by boiling the adzuki is said to be beneficial to the kidneys.

         

          Adzuki are delicious as a substitute for black-eyed peas in that mainstay of Southern dishes, Hoppin’ John. The result is rather more delicate than the original and truly fit for a gourmet’s table.

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ADZUKI RICE

½ cup adzuki beans

3 cups water

1½ teaspoons salt

½ cup brown rice

1 tablespoon butter

·        Soak adzuki beans in 1 cup water for 2 hours. Then cook slowly in the same liquid for about 1 hour, until slightly tender.

·        Bring 2 cups water to a boil. Add salt. Sprinkle rice into water without disturbing boiling. Add adzuki beans and their liquid. Cover and cook slowly for 45 minutes. Add butter.

·        This side dish is also good when served cold. Toss with a little olive oil and garnish with chopped fresh herbs.

·        Serves four.

·        Note: If shorter-cooking rice is used, cook the adzuki beans 30 minutes longer before adding to rice.