Zenzai on Flickr.
A sweet red bean (azuki) and rice cake (mochi) “soup,” eaten as a… dessert. The red beans are simmered in a simple syrup for hours. We rice cakes are toasted over a hot charcoal grill until they “puff” and turn golden brown.
Of course I cheated by using canned azuki beans thinned-out with a bit of hot water, and the oven’s broiler to toast the mochi on a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
My Cajun-Welsh-Scottish-American wife still finds sweetened red beans (very) weird, whereas I find it to be a comfort food and have it at least once every new year. Fundamentally, it seems there are many cultures that have variants on a “red beans and rice” recipe as a dish symbolizing good fortune.
