I have a love hate relationship with red bean, although lately it's been going a lot more towards the love than the hate. Asian candy seems to have an interesting trend when it comes to fillings. It seems that whenever you have a popular candy that has a chocolate filling, inevitably at some point they do a variation with red bean. The same is also true the other way around, popular red bean filled treats seem to be coming out with a chocolate variety. To westerners this might sound a little strange, since we rarely associate beans and chocolate, which is also strange since chocolate comes from beans.

If you've never tried anything with red bean, I recommend starting with something that has a subtle red bean flavour like ice cream, or maybe these cookies. While these cookies have red beans plastered all over the package, the red bean flavour of these Koalas are pretty subtle. They have a nice cream mixed into the filling that smooths out the red bean flavour. It also eliminates any kind of bean texture which can be a little strange for people not used to it. If you're already familiar with red bean treats, you'll enjoy these as well since the flavour isn't lost it's just a little smoother.

If you're new to the Asian candy world, and you want to try a classic Asian flavour, these are perfect. It's a great introduction to the world of red bean treats, and might open a new door to a new flavour.