How to Make Ohagi

Ohagi with sweet red bean paste, kinako and black sesame

Ohagi are a beloved, homey Japanese sweet: balls of half-mashed sticky rice wrapped in sweet red bean paste, or filled with it and rolled in kinako (roasted soybean flour) or ground black sesame. They’re traditionally made for higan, the week around the autumn equinox, but they’re a lovely everyday snack too.

The ingredients are simple, and it’s easier than you might think. Here’s our recipe, starting from the chunky red bean paste (tsubuan), for three kinds: red bean, kinako and black sesame.


When to make	September (autumn equinox), or any time as a snack
Makes	9 (3 each of red bean, kinako and black sesame)
Storage	Eat ohagi the same day. Leftover bean paste can be frozen

Ingredients and tools

Dried azuki beans, sticky rice, sugar, kinako and black sesame for ohagi

We made the bean paste with Shumari azuki beans from Biei, Hokkaido, and beet sugar. If you have a mortar, grind whole black sesame seeds yourself.

Makes 9 ohagi (3 each of red bean, kinako and black sesame)

180 ml (¾ cup) glutinous (sticky) rice
90 ml (⅓ cup) Japanese short-grain rice

Chunky red bean paste (tsubuan)

200 g (7 oz) dried azuki beans
180 g (scant 1 cup) sugar (light brown sugar, raw cane sugar, beet sugar, or whatever you like)
A pinch of salt

For coating

3 tbsp kinako (roasted soybean flour)
3 tbsp black sesame seeds
2 tbsp kibi sugar (raw cane sugar), 1 tbsp each for the kinako and sesame
A pinch of salt

Make the red bean paste (tsubuan)

Azuki beans need to be boiled and drained once first. Here are the steps in detail.

Washed azuki beans draining in a colander

Wash the beans and drain them in a colander.

Rinsing the azuki beans under running water after the first boil

Put the beans in a pot with plenty of water and bring to a boil. Boil over medium heat for 5 minutes, then take off the heat and rinse under running water.

Azuki beans back in the pot with fresh water

Put the beans back in the pot, add water to cover, and heat on high. When it boils, cover and cook over medium heat for about 40 minutes, until soft.

Adding water to the simmering azuki beans

Add water as needed along the way so they don’t boil dry and burn.

Plump, softened azuki beans after 40 minutes

After 40 minutes. The beans have plumped up and grown in volume.

Pour off the cooking liquid and put the beans back in the pot.

Add the sugar and set over medium heat, stirring gently.

The sugar melts, and the paste bubbles as the liquid cooks down.

Thick red bean paste with a pinch of salt added

When it’s thick, stir in a pinch of salt and turn off the heat.

Spread it on a tray to cool. We made about 520 g (18 oz) of paste, more than we needed, so we froze the rest.

Cook the rice

Wash the sticky rice and rice, and soak for about 30 minutes. Cook, then let it steam for about 10 minutes.

Half-mashing the cooked rice with a wet rolling pin

Move it to a bowl and sprinkle lightly with salt. Mash it with a wet rolling pin, leaving some of the grains whole.

Shape the ohagi

Shaping the rice into nine balls with plastic wrap

Using plastic wrap, divide the rice into 9 balls.

Shaping the red bean paste into balls with plastic wrap

Shape the bean paste into firm balls with plastic wrap too. Use about 40 g (1½ oz) each for the red bean ohagi, and about 30 g (1 oz) each for the kinako and sesame ones.