Sweetened Red Bean Paste - Koshi An (Fine)

Sweetened Red Bean Paste from China. A couple of years ago at our library they were doing a little study on China or Japan, geared towards young kids. They read some books, did a craft and sampled some treats. One treat was "ice-cream" that had red bean paste in it. So when we saw a package of red bean paste we decided to try it. Dd insisted on having it served next to some vanilla ice-cream :)

The ingredients are very simple - red beans, sugar and water.

The package reads "Shirakiku "Koshi An" is made of high quality red beans which are boiled and sweetened according to our original recipe. Please enjoy with pancakes, anmitsu, zenzai etc.

Here is a website that shows how to make some yourself - includes a video with musical accompaniment.

Dd - "Tastes like beans - sweetened beans."
Ds - "Strange - I can't stand it!"
Moi - Very sweet and smooth but with some grittiness...I couldn't really tell that it was beans I was eating. A small amount mixed in with something else would be alright - but it was sickeningly sweet.

Koala's March White Chocolate Creme - China

Dd spotted these and thought they were too cute to resist. She bought them with her own money and paid about $1.50 for this little package. A product of China.

The box is kind of octagonal shaped and has pictures of koala bears. It is cute. The kind of treat that definitely appeals to little girls (and boys).

The cookies inside are little puffy "X" shapes with various picture outlines of koalas doing different things like driving a car, playing a musical triangle etc.


The box says "white chocolate creme filled cookies" and the picture kind of looks like there would be a lot of creamy chocolate pouring out with one little bite - not the case. Rather the cookies are somewhat hollow inside, with the walls coated in white chocolate.

We all liked the cookies. They are not overly sweet and it's only a hint of chocolate that you taste. Dd did think they tasted a bit like Oreo cookies.