Charlevoix county herald., 1915-02-06
JAPANESE PLANT
VERY DESIRABLE
"Adsuki" Bean Has a Large Yield
of Seed, Makes Good Flour,
and Has Dslicate Flavor.

n plant iiuuil6I huI liOu Japan thuI
seems likely to prove a most desir-
able addition to American agriculture
is the adsuki bean, which has been sue
cessfully grown on the governments
farm at Arlington, Va, and at many
other places. Its most valuable fea-
ing to its texture the bean is easily
ground into meal or -four, and has
proven far superior to any other bean
for that purpose. Its flavor is delicate
and 1t lacks any Objectionable "beany"
taste. The adsuki bean is a most pop
ular food In Japan, and there seems
no reason why q food so rich In pro-
tein should not become popular in the
United States.
The first adsuki bean brought to
this country most probably was the
"red-seeded bean" which Commodore
Perry brought back in 1854 after his
famous trip to the far east, when he
first established communication be-
tween this country and Japan. 1t has
not been, however, until comparatively
recently that the bean was expert
mented with in q scientific manner in
America. In 1891 the Kansas Expert
ment Station had the beans submit
ted to several housekeepers for trial,
and their recommendations of 1t were
In general most favorable. The U. S.
Department of Agriculture is now CIV
ing a detailed description of its ex-
periments with the bean in a new bull
letin (No. 119), Five Oriental Species
Of Beans"
The average yield per acre of the
best varieties of the adsuki bean at
the governments farm has been about
Is bushels. The bean is a summer an
nual requiring about the same climatic
conditions as the common bean. The
plants are bushy in habit, growing
from one and half to two feet high,
according to variety and soil. The
beans are not only prolific, but ripen
evenly and do not shatter readily. 1t
has been evident, however, that these
beans can not compete with either
cowpeas or soy beans as hay produc-
ers. Their initial growth and their
total yield Of heritage are inferior.
In Japan the adsuki commands a
higher price than any other bean, the
varieties with maroon-colored seeds
being most largely used. In every Jap
anese city are shops where adsuki
beans and adsuki-bean meal are sold,
and among the most common cakes
and CONNECTIONS are those made wholly
or in part from adsuki-bean meal.
Adsuki-bean meal is sometimes pre-
pared simply by grinding the dry
beans and then removing the seed
coats with sleeves. More commonly,
however, wet process is employed.
The wet process seems to vary some
what in different parts of Japan, but
consists essentially of four stages:
% Boiling the beans until soft,
usually after a preliminary soaking.
CD Crushing the cooked beans.
(3) Removing the skins by forcing
the mass through sleeves or by putting
the bean paste in cold water, when
the skins are easily separated.
90 Drying the bean paste.
A modification of the above process
Is to remove the seed coats from the
soaked and parboiled beans before
they are crushed. In boiling the red
color Of the seed coats dissolves, and
on this account the water is some
times changed once, or twice. The
final product is somewhat reddish,
however. The bean meal, in whatever
way prepared, is eaten in soups and
gruels of various kinds, often sweet
ened. 1t Is also used for making var
ious kinds OF cakes and CONNECTIONS.
Adsuh beans are also eaten popped
like corn, as a coffee substitute, and
candied by boiling in sugar, the last
product being called amanatto. The
-four is also used for shampoos and
to make facial cream. The use of
beans to make sweetmeats seems to
be purely q Japanese invention, as
there are no similar foods used by Eu-