Jack’s Red Bean Ice Cream

Red bean is a popular flavor in many Chinese desserts and baked goods such as tāngyuán, steamed buns, and post-meal sweet soups. It is also excellent in ice cream. Red beans are more formally known as adzuki beans and are small and nutty in flavor. They taste delicious when sweetened.

Jack and Rooney eat red bean ice cream at the jazz club. Jack and his Gōng Gong also make red bean ice cream for their team Sunday Sundaes event. And, of course, you can’t have a book called Red String Theory without red ice cream.

Red Bean Paste

Note: Make the red bean paste ahead of time. Remember that the beans need to soak overnight before you can make the paste.

Ingredients

1 cup adzuki red beans

⅓ cup granulated sugar

Method

Soak the beans in water in a container overnight. Fill the water to the top of the container, making sure the beans are covered. The beans will absorb the water.

Wash and strain the beans.

In a large pot, add the soaked beans and enough water to cover them.

Cover and simmer over medium low heat for about 1–1½ hours until the beans are soft. Check the water level as it cooks. Add more water if the beans are drying out too quickly.

Remove the beans from the heat and let them cool while covered for 25–30 minutes.

Drain the remaining liquid, if any, keeping the beans in the pot. Crush the beans to keep the paste chunky. You can use a potato masher or a hand blender. A spatula should also work since the beans will be soft.

Add sugar and stir.

Turn the heat back on to medium low. Stir the mixture constantly until the paste darkens and starts to take shape. Make sure that the heat isn’t too high—you don’t want to burn the paste or dry it out too much.

Remove from the heat and allow the red bean paste to cool completely before storing it in an airtight container. You can keep the paste in the fridge for 3–4 days. Or you can freeze it (I recommend freezing in small batches, so you don’t have to thaw the entire batch next time you want to use it) for 1–2 months.