'An': Japan's Sweet Bean Paste

choi

Nippon.com, Feb 13, 2019.
https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-glances/jg00118/an-japan’s-sweet-bean-paste.html

Note:
(a) "An is sweetened bean paste generally made from boiled azuki beans. Also known as anko, it is a key ingredient in a wide array of Japanese confections (wagashi 和菓子) and Western-style snacks. * * * The origins of an stretch back to the Heian period 平安時代 (794–1185), when travelers came from China with recipes for steamed buns made from wheat or rice flour. Known in Japanese as manjū 饅頭, these were—and still are—stuffed with ingredients like meat and vegetables. * * * Cooks first started sweetening bean paste during the Muromachi period 室町時代 (1333–1568). * * * Bean paste is generally divided into sieved (koshian) and coarse (tsubuan) varieties."

Japanese-English dictionary:
* anko あんこ 《餡こ(P); 餡子》 (n): "red bean paste"  (The kanji 餡 has only Chinese pronunciations (an or kan), no Japanese one (so is 菊) -- indicating both -- 餡 and 菊 -- came from China. That is Japan did not have either before their introduction from China.)
* azuki 小豆 【あずき】 (n): "adzuki bean (Vigna angularis)"
   Japanese pronounce it "azuki" but somehow English spells it "adzuki."
* koshi-an こしあん 《こし餡; 漉し餡》 (n): "{food} strained bean paste; smooth anko"
   ^ kosu 濾す; 漉す 【こす】 (v): "to filter; to strain"  (The word "koshi" is a corresponding noun.)
* tsubuan つぶあん 《粒あん; 粒餡》 (n) : "coarse anko"
   ^ tsubu 粒 【つぶ】 (n) : "counter for small round objects including grains, seeds, pills, drops [of tear]"
* dora どら 《銅鑼; 銅羅》 (n): "gong"
* monaka 最中 【もなか】 (n): "wafer cake filled with bean jam" (The "mo" is one of Japanese pronunciations of kanji 最.)
* shiratamako 白玉粉 【しらたまこ】 (n): "(See 白玉・しらたま・2) refined rice flour; rice flour for dumplings"
   ^ shiratama 白玉 【しらたま】 (n): "(1) white gem (esp. a pearl 真珠); (2) rice flour dumpling"
* kin-toki-mame 金時豆 【きんときまめ】 (n): "red kidney bean"  (Kanji 時 has Japanese pronunciation "toki" and Chinese pronunciation "ji.")  

(b) "Dorayaki: This popular after-school snack is bean paste sandwiched between two castella-like pancakes. Manga and anime fans will recognize it as the favorite treat of Fujiko F Fujio's well-known robot cat character Doraemon."
(i) "藤子 不二雄（ふじこ ふじお）は日本の漫画家。藤本弘と安孫子素雄の共同ペンネームである。1951年にコンビを結成。1954年から、コンビを解消する1987年まで使用。解消後はそれぞれ藤子・F・不二雄、藤子 不二雄Ⓐと名乗った。代表作は『オバケのQ太郎』（共作）、『ドラえもん』（藤本） * * * "  ja.wikipedia.org for 藤子不二雄.

my rough translation: 藤子 不二雄 (Fujiko Fujio [there is no surname, because the name was made up]) was 日本の漫画家, which was the shared pen name of 藤本 弘 [FUJIMOTO Hiroshi (1933–1996)] and 安孫子 素雄 [ABIKO Moto-o (1934- ); both male]. The collaboration lasted from 1951-1987. After collaboration was dissolved, the respective pen name was 藤子・F・不二雄 and 藤子 不二雄Ⓐ . The representative worls were 『オバケのQ太郎』（共作）, 『ドラえもん [Doraemon]』（[by] 藤本） * * *
(ii) The word "dora" is defined in (a).
(iii) Doraemon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doraemon
(1969 – 1996)

The "-emon" (a suffix in archaic male given names) is 衛門 guard of a gate.

choi

(c) "Taiyaki 鯛焼き: Another children's favorite, these cakes are shaped like tai 鯛 [Japanese pronunciation], or sea bream. Grilled in iron molds and overflowing with an, they are best enjoyed warm. Variations of the snack include the biscuit-like ōbanyaki 大判焼き, smaller kobanyaki 小判焼き, and doll-shaped ningyō-yaki 人形焼."
(i)
(A) Imagawayaki  今川焼き
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imagawayaki
(Imagawayaki began to be sold near the Kanda Imagawabashi 今川橋 bridge during An'ei 安永 [年号] years (1772–1781) in the Edo period; section 1 Various names: ōban-yaki (大判焼き) — is major in Kansai 関西 region; koban-yaki 小判焼き etc)

Kanda 神田 (kan as well as kami is Japanese pronunciation of kanji 神) is a neighborhood in Chiyoda 千代田区, Tokyo.
(B) 大判
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/大判
(vs 小判 [the same shape but smaller]' both thin pieces of gold used as currency)
(ii) 人形焼
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/人形焼
("東京都中央区日本橋人形町が発祥地とされ、東京土産として有名である")

my rough translation: originated at [present-day] 東京都中央区日本橋人形町.

(d) "Daifuku 大福 [short for 大福餅]: These chewy confections are pounded glutinous rice mochi [sticky rice cake] stuffed with bean paste. The outer mochi layer is often mixed with azuki, black soybeans, or mugwort (yomogi) for added flavor and texture."
(i) yomogi ヨモギ  蓬
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/ヨモギ
(section 2 利用: leaves mashed for 草餅（蓬餅) )
(ii) Search images.google.com with 蓬餅, and you will instantly comprehend: azuki paste as filling inside glutinous rice wrap that is made green due to crushed leaves.

(e) "Kintsuba 金鍔 [short for 金鍔焼き]: This rich sweet is simply an covered by a thin layer of grilled batter."
(i) The "tsuba' is a oval-shaped sword guard, situated between the sword and handle.
(ii) "もともとは江戸時代中期に大阪で考案された菓子であり、上新粉（米粉）で作った生地で餡を包んで同様に焼いたものであった。当時は、その形状と色から「ぎんつば（銀鍔）」と呼ばれていた。1600年代後半に製法が大阪から江戸に伝わると、生地の材料が上新粉から小麦粉になり、また、「銀よりも金のほうが景気が良い」との理由から、名前が「きんつば」に変わったとされている。"  ja.wikipedia.org for きんつば.

My rough translation: it was a sweet /confection 菓子 [which does not mean fruit in Japan] invented 考案 in Osaka around half through Edo period. Glutinous rice dough 生地 with azuki filling. At the time, due to its shape and color it was called 銀鍔. In the second half of the seventeenth century, the manufacturing method/ recipe 製法 spread from Osaka to Tokyo, and glutinous rice dough became wheat dough. Moreover, gold sounds better than silver, and 銀鍔 was replaced with 金鍔.

choi

(f) dango 団子
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/団子
is a round ball of ground glutinous rice first steamed, then grilled right before serving. Is usually sweet but could contain meat and hence salty -- the latter is certainly cooked by boiling 煮, but the former is rarely so
(except in local specialty such as "東久留米市の郷土料理！「煮ぃだんご」," in a salty broth
https://life.ja-group.jp/recipe/detail?id=100
).
(g) photo captions in this article:
(i) "Filled with koshian, red bean paste pressed through a fine sieve, sakura mochi is typically enjoyed as part of the Doll Festival on March 3."
(A) sakuramochi 桜餅
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakuramochi
("The sweet is traditionally eaten during the spring season, and especially on Girl's Day (hinamatsuri) and at flower viewing parties (hanami [花見])")
(B) hinamatsuri  雛祭り
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinamatsuri
(to display a set of ornamental dolls (雛人形 hina-ningyō) )

The "hina" is Japanese pronunciation of kanji 雛 meaning chick or doll.
(ii) "Shiruko, made with coarse an and grilled mochi rice cakes."
(A) shiruko 汁粉
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiruko
(B) The "shiru" is Japanese pronunciation of kanji 汁 which as a noun may mean "juice" (as in "レモンの汁" lemon juice), or "soup" (as in "味噌汁" miso soup).
(iii) "Anmitsu includes a tasty array of fruit like mandarin orange, pineapple, and maraschino cherry, as well as Japanese flavors such as kuromitsu [黒蜜 brown sugar syrup] syrup, shiratama dango and, of course, an."

anmitsu  餡蜜
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anmitsu
(Shiratama dango [白玉団子, made of shiratama-ko 白玉粉, which is defined in (a)] are also commonly used as toppings)
(iv) "Ujikintoki [宇治金時] shaved ice is made with coarse bean paste, matcha [抹茶 powdered green tea; 京都府宇治市 City of Uji is noted for producing 抹茶], and sugary syrup."

金時豆 is defined in (a).

choi

(h) Where adzuki is domesticated in East Asia is unclear: could be China, Japan or somewhere else. There s no need to read the rest of either of the following two.
* Yang K et al, Genome Sequencing of Adzuki Bean (Vigna angularis) Provides Insight into High Starch and Low Fat Accumulation and Domestication. Proc Natl Acad Sci, 112: 13213–13218 (2015).
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4629392/
(clause 1 in Introduction: "Adzuki bean (Vigna angularis var. angularis) was domesticated in China ∼12,000 y ago")

The quotation cited what is displayed next, which distinguished domestication and HUMAN consumption.

* Liu L et al, Paleolithic Human Exploitation of Plant Foods During the Last Glacial Maximum in North China. Proc Natl Acad Sci, 110: 5380–5385 (2013)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3619325/

Quote:

"In China, the earliest grinding stones have been uncovered from several Paleolithic site clusters distributed on the Loess Plateau region along the middle Yellow River valley. These include Longwangchan [陕西省延安市宜川县龙王辿遗址] in Shaanxi and Shizitan and Xiachuan [下川遗址: 山西省晋城市沁水县下川乡] in Shanxi, dating to ca. 25,000–9000 calendar years before present (cal. B.P.). A study of usewear traces and starch residues on grinding stones from Locality 9 (S9 [山西省临汾市吉县柿子滩遗址S29地点] hereafter) in the Shizitan site cluster (ca. 12,700–11,600 cal. B.P.) has demonstrated that people used these tools to process various plant foods, including grasses, tubers, acorns, and legumes (10). Among the grass starch granules uncovered at this site, some from Panicoideae may have been the wild ancestors of domesticated millets (Panicum miliaceum and Setaria italica ssp [subspecies] italica). Therefore, it is important to investigate the use of plants in an earlier period in this region, to trace possible continuity in a putative plant procurement strategy that may have eventually led to domestication. In this study, we demonstrate usewear patterns and residues on three grinding stones (ca. 23,000–19,500 cal. B.P.) excavated from Locality 14 (S14 hereafter) in the Shizitan site cluster, which disclosed the exploitation of Triticeae and Paniceae grasses, Vigna beans, Dioscorea opposita yam, and Trichosanthes kirilowii snakegourd roots." (citations omitted).

"Beans appear to have been one of the earliest plant foods used by hunter–gathers in north China, but their taxonomy cannot be determined to the level of species based on starch data only. The earliest known macrobotanic remains of Vigna beans in China have been identified as Adzuki (V angularis), dating to the late Neolithic in Shandong. Beans rich in starch from genera other than Vigna have not been found in the archaeological contexts in prehistoric north China. However, the use of Vigna for food before 2,500 BC in China still awaits confirmation by macrobotanic discovery in the future." (citation omitted).