小豆(あずき)

あずき
noun
azuki bean
1. azuki bean, red bean, adzuki bean
A small reddish-brown bean widely used in Japanese and East Asian cuisine, especially for making sweet bean paste.
小豆(あずき)を煮(に)る。
Boil azuki beans.
小豆(あずき)から餡子(あんこ)を作(つく)った。
I made sweet bean paste from azuki beans.
この和菓子(わがし)は北海道産(ほっかいどうさん)の小豆(あずき)を使(つか)っている。
This Japanese confection uses azuki beans from Hokkaido.

小豆(あずき) is a small reddish-brown bean central to Japanese sweets and traditional cuisine. The kanji 小豆(あずき) is an irregular reading (熟字訓(じゅくじくん)) — the characters literally mean "small bean" but the reading あずき is applied to the compound as a whole.

WRITING:
Also written as アズキ in katakana, especially in scientific or commercial contexts.

COMMON COMPOUNDS:

  • 小豆餡(あずきあん): azuki bean paste
  • 小豆粥(あずきがゆ): azuki rice porridge (traditional New Year dish)
  • 小豆色(あずきいろ): dark reddish-brown color

CULTURAL NOTE:
Azuki beans are the main ingredient in 餡子(あんこ) (sweet bean paste), which fills many Japanese sweets like 大福(だいふく), 饅頭(まんじゅう), and 鯛焼(たいや)き. 北海道(ほっかいどう) is Japan's largest producer.

general
Added 2026.2.5 23:29 · Revised 2026.3.25 11:55
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