Washing Grains

Here is an amazingly quick tutorial for washing grains. Firstly I'll tell you how this came about...Years ago we used to buy Japanese washing grains from The Body Shop in a cute little cannister. They were horrendously pricey for what they were, but DH loved them so we always had some in the bathroom. It really used to bug me as the smell reminded me of something but I couldn't think what...then one day it struck me...they smell like freshly cut runner beans! I looked on the container and they did indeed contain beans...Aduki beans. This sounded very exotic and I decided it must be something very special because of the price we were paying. Anyway like it always seems to happen, they stopped selling them, I do not know why.

Fast forward a few years when I was in a health food shop and there I spied the allusive ( to me ) Aduki beans. After whizzing the creative cogs in my brain for 10 seconds, I decided to buy some. They were inexpensive, in fact, cheap as any other dried beans.

By that evening DH was scrubbing himself away in the bathroom with our version of the bean scrub. Now as I said before I do not know the reason they stop selling them, but I do know that ingesting raw beans is a big no no...maybe it was a health and safety issue ( yawn ) maybe even if you didn't get them in your mouth you could absorb the toxins through your skin, perhaps there was a danger of scratching your eyeballs, who knows? Whatever the reason please be aware that these MAY NOT BE SAFE TO USE...I have had no trouble after using them for years and will continue to, but it doesn't mean that you won't...there, that was your health and safety warning. Also I would not let small children anywhere near them in the same way that you shouldn't let them play with talcum powder etc, you don't want any inhaling or choking accidents!!!!

If you still want to know how I made them this is how...

You need 1 coffee grinder ( that you will not be using again for coffee...don't want any raw bean toxins in your morning cuppa )

A packet of Aduki beans, also called Adzuki beans

A pretty jar to keep it in

Chuck beans in grinder and grind until fairly fine, like granulated sugar is a good starter. Be careful not to breath in the dust...pour them into a pretty jar. You can see how fine/coarse I grind mine below...and that is that!



We use ours by taking a teaspoon sized amount adding a few drops of water to make a paste and then we rub it on wet skin. DH uses it on his face, but that's because he is a big roughtie toughtie man... I wouldn't dare as it is too coarse for my delicate skin LOL ...I love this stuff, and it is soooo much cheaper than the bought stuff was...I am talking several hundred percent cheaper! Until I find a reason why I shouldn't be using it, it will be a part of our bathroom "spell" cabinet ( I am in the hope that one day I will mix the right things and hey presto the elixir of youth LOL ).

BTW, we keep it in the glass jar you see in the first pic but not next to the bath...we decant a small amount into a PLASTIC LIDDED container about once a fortnight. You really need a lid or the damp will get in, and please don't have glass near your hands when you are all wet, slippery and possibly naked, lets not even go there!!!

Doxie the exfolliated