How to Cook Sekihan(Japanese azuki bean rice) in pressure cooker

Sekihan is Japanese traditional rice dish made from sticky rice and azuki beans. The rice is chewy and the beans are fluffy. Let's learn how to make this beautiful rice!

When people get together for new year holidays, when people want to cerebrate something such as birthday, girl's day, achieving a life goal and so on, sekihan is often served in Japan.

But our kids love the rice so I make is on a regular day.

A traditional process is a little work but if you use a pressure cooker, it's so easy and simple.

This recipe is for you, if you
• love Japanese rice
• want to cook Japanese sekihan(azuki bean rice)
• want to know how to cook sekihan in a pressure cooker

Let me go through how to do it! Let's get started!

About this recipe

• Japanese traditional recipe
• Sekihan(azuki bean rice) in a pressure cooker
• Easy and basic recipe

What is sekihan?

Sekihan means red("seki") rice("han") in Japanese.

It is steamed rice made by sticky rice and azuki beans(red bean) and is a traditional dish that is often served at festivity in Japan.

Since ancient times, it has been said that red food has the power of avoiding evil sprits and ancient red rice was eaten.

Even now that ancient red rice is replaced by white short grain rice, the custom is remained by coloring red with azuki beans, and eat it at festive events.

📋 Ingredients

Here are the ingredients(amounts is in recipe card below).

• Sticky rice(Glutinous rice)
• Azuki beans
• Salt and toasted black sesame seeds

Sticky rice(Glutinous rice)

Sticky rice is different from common white rice as they have different types of starch.

It contains more sticky starch than white rice, that's why it's so sticky.

It's commonly used for making mochi(rice cake), okowa(steamed rice) and sekihan as well.

Related recipeHow to cook Japanese short grain rice on the stove

Azuki beans

What is azuki beans?

Azuki is small red beans. It's known as a healthy food as it's rich in dietary fiber, vitamin B, polyphenol, and mineral.

When it comes to azuki beans, anko is most famous which is sweet bean paste used for wagashi(Japanese style dessert).

And also we use it for sekihan to give a nice red color.

Do I need to soak adzuki beans before cooking?

In general, dried beans require soaking beforehand to cook through but azuki beans is not necessary.

Azuki's skin is hard so it doesn't soak water like other beans. It's better to let water come in after making the skin soft by heating.

In this recipe, we just rinse azuki and start cooking without soaking.

A Pressure Cooker

Let me introduce my favorite pressure cooker.

This is what I use : Zero pressure cooker S size.

It is the smallest size in this series which is 2.5 L and light enough to hold with one hand, which is so handy.

It is large enough for families with small children. Great for cooking brown rice and beans.

It comes with a red weight(high pressure) and a white weight(low pressure), and you can set the pressure with these two weights.

You just put the weight on the lid and no changing the setting like the dial type.

When pressure is reached, the weight jiggles and makes a whooshing sound, so even beginners of pressure cookers can easily understand the timing of lowering the heat, so it's pretty easy to use.

So if you live in Japan, and planning to buy a pressure cooker, I really recommend this zero pressure cooker.

🔪Step by step instructions

Well, now it's time to cook! Let's go over how to do it. You can also watch this video.

1. Soak sticky rice : Rinse sticky rice quickly and soak in water for 30 minutes.
2. Azuki beans : Put azuki beans and water(2 cups) in a pressure cooker, close the lid and cook over high heat(zero pressure cooker : red weight).
3. Cook azuki beans : When pressure is reached, lower heat and cook for 3 minutes(zero pressure cooker : 0 mins). And turn off the heat.
4. Add rice : Open the lid after pressure is released, add rice(drained water that has been soaked), close the lid and cook over high heat(zero pressure cooker : white weight).
5. Cook rice : When pressure is reached, lower heat and cook for 3 minutes(zero pressure cooker : 1 mins). And turn off the heat.
6. Steam and stir : Leave it for 10 minutes to steam, open the lid after pressure is released, stir rice with a shamoji(or a big spoon).

And top with salt and toasted black sesame seeds if you like and serve in a rice bowl.

Please enjoy this fluffy tasty Japanese traditional sticky rice!

Storage

If you have leftover, wrap one serving in cling wrap and store in the freezer.

I usually make it onigiri(rice ball) shape as our kids love it. You can make 8 onigiri for this recipe like the picture above.

Thanks For Stopping By

The sekihan is sticky, chewy, and nutritious rice.

Once you try it and I'm sure you will fall in love with this cheerful red rice!

If you try the recipe, please let me know what you think!

Thank you for taking time to read my blog♡ If you’ve tried this recipe(or any other recipe on the blog), please give it a star rating below!

Also feel free to leave comments if you have any questions. I love hearing from you!

Chef JA Cooks is a Japanese food blog which share simple and healthy Japanese home cooking recipes include vegan and vegetarian. From traditional Japanese recipes to modern recipes with step by step instructions.

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