Japan — shiro-an as a wagashi base established during the Edo period alongside the formalisation of kaiseki and tea ceremony wagashi sequence
Shiro-an (白餡) — white bean paste made from shiro-ingen mame (white kidney beans, navy beans, or haricot beans) or te-bora mame (a Japanese white bean variety) — is the foundation of nerikiri, the hand-shaped wagashi of kaiseki and formal tea ceremony. Unlike the red bean pastes (an) made from azuki, shiro-an is more neutral in flavour, creamy-sweet, and provides the perfect canvas for added flavourings (matcha, yuzu, sakura, kinako) and for taking colour (the white base accepts natural pigments clearly). Making shiro-an requires: (1) soaking beans overnight; (2) boiling until fully soft; (3) passing through a fine sieve (uragoshi) to create smooth fine paste; (4) pressing through a cloth (sarashi) to remove maximum moisture; (5) cooking down in a pot with sugar in stages until the paste reaches the correct water activity for shaping. Nerikiri is shiro-an cooked further to drier consistency, then mixed with gyūhi (glutinous rice dough) in a ratio of approximately 10:1 (shiro-an:gyūhi), creating a pliable, workable paste that holds the precise impressions made by bamboo tools, shapers, and the wagashi craftsperson's hands.
Mildly sweet, creamy, bean-forward with delicate vanilla-like note; flavourings dominate over the neutral base; texture is the primary statement — smooth, dense, just-yielding
{"Quality shiro-an requires three passes: uragoshi (sieve), sarashi (cloth press), and karameru (cooking down with sugar)","The moisture content of the finished an determines workability — too wet: won't shape; too dry: cracks when shaped","Nerikiri ratio: ~10 parts shiro-an to 1 part gyūhi — gyūhi provides elasticity that makes shaping possible","White bean type affects colour — te-bora produces the whitest paste; navy beans may have slight grey tint","Sugar is added gradually during cooking — one-stage addition of full sugar quantity locks moisture and prevents proper Maillard browning without caramelising"}
{"Testing an moisture: form a ball and roll it — it should hold shape cleanly, not flatten or crack; this is the target texture","Flavouring additions: fold matcha or yuzu zest into cooled shiro-an before mixing gyūhi — flavour is absorbed more uniformly at room temperature","Natural colouring: beni imo (purple sweet potato) powder for purple, gardenia water for yellow, matcha for green — all fold cleanly into white base","Nerikiri tools: bamboo pressing and shaping tools (kushi, kobake) leave precise pattern impressions — invest in traditional tools for authentic surface quality"}
{"Under-cooking the an — insufficient sugar concentration allows fermentation; an must reach proper Brix level for stability","Over-processing in a blender rather than uragoshi — blender emulsifies air into the paste, creating a different texture than the traditional sieve method","Adding gyūhi to an that is too warm — melts the gyūhi addition, destroying the intended elasticity","Shaping nerikiri that is too dry — add minimal water (1/4 tsp at a time) and work thoroughly before attempting shapes"}
Wagashi: The Art of Japanese Confectionery (Kazuko Emi) / Making Japanese Sweets (Mineko Takahashi)