What does aduki mean?
The aduki is a small, reddish-brown bean produced by Vigna angularis, a legume domesticated in East Asia and a staple of Japanese, Chinese, and Korean cooking. Aduki beans have a mild, slightly nutty, gently sweet flavor and a soft texture when cooked, which makes them unusually well suited to desserts rather than savory dishes alone. Their best-known role is as the basis of anko, the sweetened red-bean paste that fills mochi, dorayaki, buns, and countless other confections across East Asia. The word itself is one of several English renderings of the Japanese name for the bean, with "adzuki" being the dominant spelling in American usage and "aduki" appearing more frequently in British sources. In shops and recipes, the term typically appears in the plural — a bag of aduki beans — and cooks usually soak and simmer them before use. For anyone exploring Asian cuisine, the aduki is an essential ingredient to know.
nounAn aduki is a small, reddish-brown edible bean (Vigna angularis) widely used in East Asian cuisine, especially cooked and sweetened as a paste in Japanese confections.
- The small reddish-brown seed of Vigna angularis, cultivated in East Asia and eaten whole or as a sweet paste.
"She filled the mochi with sweetened aduki paste."
"Simmer the aduki beans until they are soft enough to mash into a paste."
"The bakery's most popular bun is filled with lightly sweetened aduki."
Both "aduki" and "adukis" occur, but in culinary writing the unmarked plural "aduki" (or "aduki beans") is far more common than the inflected "adukis".
"Rinse the aduki thoroughly before soaking them overnight."
The humble aduki bean has been sweetening Japanese desserts for centuries — it's the reason your red-bean ice cream tastes the way it does.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of aduki
The word "aduki" is borrowed from Japanese, where the bean is called azuki (小豆), written with characters meaning "small bean." It entered English through romanization of the Japanese pronunciation, producing several spellings — azuki, adzuki, and aduki — of which "adzuki" is now the most widespread internationally, while "aduki" remains common in Britain. The underlying word is ultimately of Japanese origin rather than Latin or Greek, so it has no European cognates.
How aduki is actually used
"Aduki" is chiefly a British spelling; "adzuki" predominates in North America. The word is almost always encountered in culinary contexts, often in the plural when referring to the dried beans sold in shops.
Easily confused with aduki
"Aduki" and "adzuki" are simply alternative romanizations of the same Japanese word for the same bean — "adzuki" is the more common spelling in American English, while "aduki" appears more often in British English.