red bean paste; anko
Sweet paste made from azuki beans, used in many Japanese sweets.
See also: あんこ
kudzu sauce
A thickened sauce made with kudzu starch, used in Japanese cuisine.
See also: 葛餡
General term for fillings inside dumplings, buns, or other foods. Sense 3 is specifically for dumpling fillings, while sense 4 is a broader use for any filling or stuffing.
You boil the azuki beans and knead them into a paste.
The taiyaki is filled with plenty of red bean paste.
Tofu with kudzu sauce has an elegant flavor.
The filling of this meat bun is juicy and delicious.
パイにあんを詰めて焼く。
Fill the pie with stuffing and bake it.
豆腐に餡をかける。
Pour the kudzu sauce over the tofu.
You put the filling into the manju.
Wrap the filling in the thin dough.
葛餡 specifically names the thickened kudzu-starch sauce, whereas 餡 is the broader word that can also mean bean paste or filling depending on context.
red bean paste; anko · filling; sweet filling · stuffing; padding
strained bean paste; smooth sweet bean paste
anpan; sweet roll filled with red bean paste · paint thinner (as an inhalant)
kudzu starch sauce
anmitsu; sweet bean paste with agar, fruit, and syrup
mochi with sweet red bean paste; anko mochi · mochi rice cake
steamed bun with anko filling
sweet white bean paste with miso
slightly crushed sweetened red-bean paste
Usually written in kana. The kanji 餡 is also used but less common in everyday writing.
Kanji form, more common in formal or traditional contexts.
From Chinese 餡 (xiàn, 'filling'). The reading あん is a Japanese approximation of the Chinese sound.
thick starchy sauce; ankake sauce
mochi coated with sweet bean paste
powdered bean paste; dried bean paste