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Anmitsu

Name: Anmitsu
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: 4 g agar powder; 500 ml water; 1 tbsp sugar; 80 g Okinawan black sugar or dark muscovado; 60 ml water; 120 g sweet red bean paste; 300 g mixed fruit; 4 tbsp boiled red peas (aka endo) or sweet azuki

Agar jelly with red bean

Anmitsu (あんみつ): agar jelly cubes with fruit, red bean paste and black sugar syrup

Features:

Anmitsu became a craze in Tokyo's Ginza and Asakusa tea rooms in the 1930s and is still the classic summer order in kanmidokoro, the sweet cafés of old Tokyo. Clear, firm cubes of agar jelly are piled into a bowl with seasonal fruit, a scoop of sweet bean paste and boiled red peas, then drenched in dark, smoky kuromitsu syrup. The common mistake is using gelatin, which melts; agar jelly stays firm and refreshing at room temperature. Chef's tip: make the kuromitsu with Okinawan kokuto black sugar if you can; it gives a deep, almost liquorice-like flavour that muscovado only gets close to.

Total time: 30 min
Difficulty: easy
Serves: 4

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Ingredients

Serves4

For the agar jelly

⅛ oz agar powder
2 cups water
1 tbsp sugar

For the black sugar syrup

2 ⅞ oz Okinawan black sugar or dark muscovado
¼ cup water

To serve

4 oz sweet red bean paste
10 ½ oz mixed fruitsuch as mandarin segments, strawberries and kiwi
4 tbsp boiled red peas (aka endo) or sweet azuki (optional)

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Spices & pantry

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boiled red peas

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Method

0/5 done

Step 1: Whisk ⅛ oz agar powder into 2 cups water in a pan with 1 tbsp sugar, bring to the boil and boil for 2 minutes, stirring.
5 min
Step 2: Pour into a wet 15 cm square dish and leave to set at room temperature, about 40 minutes, then chill.
40 min
Step 3: For the syrup, simmer 2 ⅞ oz Okinawan black sugar or dark muscovado and ¼ cup water for 3–4 minutes, until it coats a spoon. Cool; it thickens as it cools.
4 min
Step 4: Cut the jelly into 1.5 cm cubes and divide between 4 bowls.
Step 5: Arrange 10 ½ oz mixed fruit, 4 tbsp boiled red peas (aka endo) or sweet azuki and a scoop of 4 oz sweet red bean paste on top. Pour over the black sugar syrup just before eating.

Nutrition per serving

Calories: 200 kcal
Protein: 3 g
Carbs: 48 g
Fat: 0 g
Fibre: 4 g

Nutrition values are estimates.

Recipe by

KrazyBadal

All recipes by this chef →

Good to know

How long does anmitsu take?: About 30 minutes in total: 15 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to cook.
How many people does it serve?: 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
Is it vegan?: Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
Is it gluten free?: Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
What can I use instead of sugar?: Caster sugar, same amount.

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