In Japanese, a number of names are used to refer to red bean paste; these include an (餡), anko (餡子) and ogura (小倉). Strictly speaking, the term an can refer to almost any sweet, edible, mashed paste, although without qualifiers red beans are assumed, while azukian (小豆餡) refers specifically to the paste made with red beans. Other common forms of an include shiroan (白餡, "white bean paste"), made from navy or other white beans, green beans and kurian (栗餡), made from chestnuts.
Similarly, the Chinese term dòushā (豆沙; 'bean paste'), applies to red bean paste when used without qualifiers, although hóngdòushā (紅豆沙) explicitly means "red bean paste."
In Korean, pat (팥, Vigna angularis) contrasts with kong (콩, "bean"), rather than being considered a type of it. Kong ("beans") without qualifiers usually means soybeans. As so (소) means "filling", the word patso (팥소) means "pat filling", with unsweetened dark-red paste as its prototype. Dan (단, "sweet") attached to patso makes danpat-so (단팥소), the sweetened red bean paste, which is often called danpat (단팥; "sweet pat"). Geopi (거피, "hulled, skinned, peeled, shelled, etc.")5 attached to pat makes geopipat (거피팥), the dehulled red beans67 and the white paste made of geopipat is called geopipat-so (거피팥소).
Red bean paste is graded according to its consistency, sweetness, and color.
In Chinese cuisine, the most common types are:8
In Japanese cuisine and confectionery, the most common types are:
In Korean cuisine and confectionery, the most common types are:
Red bean paste is used in many Chinese dishes, such as:
Red bean paste is used in many Japanese sweets.
Red bean paste is used in various Korean snack foods and desserts, including:
Shurtleff, William; Aoyagi, Akiko (2013). History of Tofu and Tofu Products (965 CE to 2013). Soyinfo Center. p. 339. ISBN 978-1928914556. 978-1928914556 ↩
Mishan, Ligaya (2013-10-17). "Hungry City: Shalom Japan in Williamsburg, Brooklyn". The New York Times. Retrieved 2017-02-27. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/23/dining/reviews/hungry-city-shalom-japan-in-williamsburg-brooklyn.html ↩
(in Korean) Korean Society of Food Science and Technology (2008). "geopipat" 거피팥 [dehulled red bean]. Encyclopedia of food science and technology. Seoul: Kwangil publishing. ISBN 9788986752106. Retrieved 2017-02-25 – via Naver. 거피팥9788986752106 ↩
(in Korean) "거피-팥 (去皮-)". Standard Korean Language Dictionary. National Institute of Korean Language. Archived from the original on 2017-02-25. Retrieved 2017-02-25. https://web.archive.org/web/20170225212747/http://stdweb2.korean.go.kr/search/View.jsp?idx=14406 ↩
(in Korean) "거피01 (去皮)". Standard Korean Language Dictionary. National Institute of Korean Language. Archived from the original on 2017-02-26. Retrieved 2017-02-25. https://web.archive.org/web/20170226045459/http://stdweb2.korean.go.kr/search/View.jsp?idx=391325 ↩
"Homemade Sweet Red (Azuki) Bean Paste, Chunky and Smooth". tastehongkong.com. 2012-04-11. Retrieved 2013-12-11.[permanent dead link] http://www.tastehongkong.com/recipes/homemade-sweet-red-adzuki-bean-paste-chunky-and-smooth/ ↩