I don't have an answer for you; I have only recently begun collecting some of the lesser-known Asian beans, including adzuki (Vigna angularis), green gram (V. radiata), and black gram (V. mungo).

What I can tell you is that not all adzuki are red. I currently have both a buff (tan) and a purple variety, as well as a few red types. The buff is actually my favorite so far, due to its earliness (100 days), compact bush habit, large seed, and excellent flavor. It also has a thinner skin than the others that I have tried.

The purple (its Japanese name is "Murasaki") is also large-seeded, and appears to be capable of heavy yields... but it sprawls, and requires too long a season for my Wisconsin location. I was never able to get enough seed to test its culinary qualities.

This year I was supposed to grow a red-and-white seeded cultivar, but the seed that I was sent was non-viable. I will be in contact with the grower, and hope to give it another trial in 2008.

There are, supposedly, pole varieties of adzuki; but their absence in this country may mean that they are poorly adapted to our climate. If anyone has grown or seen climbing adzuki, I would be interested in your observations.

It is possible that the closely related rice beans (Vigna umbellata) have sometimes been mistaken for adzuki, since they have very similar seed. Rice beans are strong climbers, with rampant, heavily-branched vines. Those that I tried were daylength-sensitive (as I believe most are), which makes them impossible for all but the most tropical parts of the U.S.

I will be following this thread closely, and am very interested in trading with anyone who might have named cultivars (or heirloom varieties, such as the "buff" above) from Asia or the Pacific islands.

I believe what you're looking for is the difference between the following which are both often used in desserts. The flavors and textures will be similar yet still distinctly unique from each other.

Vigna angularis (Adzuki Bean)
Vigna radiata (Mung Bean)

Read the FAQ for this forum for seed sources.

*wink*

Oh wow both of you for so much more extra info. Violet, no no, I am fine between Mung Bean and Azuki Bean, I think. Mung Bean is either green or yellow, right ? Never red, right ?

I think I basically figure out what my confusion is: There is a small red bean called Azuki, and then there is a big red bean called Taisho Kintoki. After some googling, I think the Taisho Kintoki is the same as red kidney bean and that is the one that folks in Hokkaido prefers to use for their red bean paste ...

Zeedman, thank you for letting me know that not all Azuki are red. For all the different colors that you have tried, they are all bushy plants that do not climb ? Do they have the same yellow flowers ? I am going to go to the grocery store to get the red Azuki beans to see if I can get them to grow, but where do you find the other color beans of Azuki ? Let me know if possible, thanks.

Ieozok, all of the varieties of adzuki that I have grown have been bush. Some sprawl, however, such as the "Murasaki". All have yellow, pea-like flowers, and all bear heavily... at 6 inch spacing, over one ounce of dry seed per plant. Most of my adzuki bear more quickly than the green gram that I grew from store-bought seed.

The majority of my seed comes from Seed Savers Exchange members, or from seed swaps. There is a commercial source for two of the non-red varieties (the "Buff" and "Murasaki"), which I have listed in the link below. They are out of Canada.

Funny that you mentioned the yellow mung. This year I am growing a "Yellow Mungo" from the Philippines. So far, it appears to be _much_ earlier than the sprawling green mung, with a more upright bush habit. It already has full-grown pods (still green), while the green mung is just beginning to flower! Of course, the yield & flavor remain to be seen... I will post more info after harvest.

Here is a link that might be useful: Yuko seeds

zeedman,

How do you like to cook your beans? Do you shell/dry any?

ieozok,

Looking at the redbeans found in Asian/Vietnamese stores, they seem to be smaller than those Azuki found in Japanese stores.

Red beans smaller than adzuki (Vigna angularis) beans would be the red rice bean that zeedman mentioned above (Vigna umbellate) so they are different species in the same genus Vigna:

{{gwi:387702}}

...where do you find the other color beans of Azuki?

Again, I encourage you to read the FAQ for this forum which explains how to find the sources discussed in the threads which will lead you to different varieties of adzuki as well as the rice bean.

Mung Bean is either green or yellow... never red, right?

I am not sure of the name but I believe there may be a red colored mung bean often found in Eastern Indian areas such as Gujarat and Rajasthan which they prefer over the green version.