I picked up some azuki beans (aka adzuki beans) at Fujiya. I decided to make some of this "An" - sweet red bean paste that's used in a lot of Japanese confectionery. Here's some info from 'The Japanese Kitchen:'
"An can be eaten on its own or diluted with hot water to make a sweet soup called zenzai (a favorite of many women) or used as a filling for different kinds of Japanese confectionery. Although ready-made an is available either in tins or in powder form, it is not as good as homemade, nor as economical.
8 oz (1 1/4 cups) adzuki beans
8 oz (1 cup) granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
Put the beans in a saucepan and add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and drain. Return the beans to the saucepan and add 1 1/4 pints water and let the beans soak overnight, discarding any that float.
Put the saucepan of beans over a high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat after 5 minutes of rapid boiling and simmer for 1 hour or until the beans are soft. Add 3 1/2 tablespoons water when the liquid is reduced by half and stir. Do this twice more. Add the sugar and salt and stir well to ensure that it all dissolves. The paste will keep for a week refrigerated in an airtight container."
I brought them to a boil, changed the water, soaked overnight, then cooked them for 1 hour. Drained some of the water, added the salt and sugar, and cooked until I got a nice thick paste.