Azuki Ice Cream

Serves 1.

Ingredients:

1 cup azuki beans.
1/3 cup sugar.
2 teaspoons lemon juice.
3 1/2 cups water.
custard base.
1 cup milk.
1 cup cream.
4 egg yolks.
2/3 cup sugar.
1 teaspoon vanilla.

Directions:

Wash beans, and transfer beans, sugar, lemon juice, and water into a saucepan. Bring to boil, and boil uncovered for 3 minutes. Decrease the heat to low and cover the pan, and cook the beans until very tender, adding additional water as needed, 2 1/2 - 3 hours. The beans should be very tender. When done, there should be a total of 3 cups beans and liquid. If not enough liquid, add more water to make 3 cups total mixture. If too much water, drain some liquid. Let the mixture cool 5 minutes. Strain the bean mixture through a sieve. I used a wooden mallet for this purpose. Refrigerate the bean mixture 2 - 3 hours until cold. Discard bean skins left in the sieve. Heat the milk and cream to simmer in a saucepan. Combine egg yolks, and sugar in a bowl, stirring with a wire whisk. Stir 1/4 cup of the hot cream/milk mixture into the egg/sugar mixture; combine well. Transfer the egg/sugar mixture into the milk/cream mixture in the saucepan. Place the saucepan over low heat and stir until mixture thickens somewhat, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, add vanilla, and refrigerate 2 - 3 hours until cold. Combine bean mixture and custard mixture and process according to your ice cream maker instructions. 

Nutritional Information: 

1759 Calories (kcal); 88g Total Fat; (44% calories from fat); 25g Protein; 223g Carbohydrate; 1093mg Cholesterol; 263mg Sodium