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Red bean soup
Hung dau sa (紅豆沙): adzuki beans simmered with aged tangerine peel and rock sugar until creamy
Hong Kong Cantonese restaurants often send out a small bowl of hung dau sa on the house at the end of a banquet dinner, and dessert shops in Mong Kok serve it hot in winter and chilled with ice in summer. Long simmering breaks the adzuki beans down into a thick, velvety soup, part smooth and part whole beans, scented with the faintly bitter citrus of aged tangerine peel and sweetened with clean-tasting rock sugar. Some add a spoonful of coconut milk, lotus seeds or little glutinous rice balls. Adding the sugar too early is the common misstep, because it keeps the bean skins tough so they never collapse. Chef's tip: soak the beans, then freeze them in their soaking water for a few hours; the ice crystals crack the skins and halve the simmering time.
- Total time
- 120 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
- 7 oz dried adzuki beans
- 1 piece dried tangerine peelabout 5 g
- 1.6 litres water
- 4 oz rock sugaror caster sugar
- 4 tbsp coconut milk (optional)to serve
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Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Rinse 7 oz dried adzuki beans and soak in plenty of cold water for at least 2 hours, or overnight. For softer beans in less time, freeze them in the soaking water, then thaw before cooking.
Step 2: Soak 1 piece dried tangerine peel in warm water for 15 minutes until pliable, then scrape off the white pith with a spoon; the pith turns the soup bitter.
15 minStep 3: Drain the beans and put them in a heavy pot with 1.6 litres water and the peel. Bring to a rolling boil over a high heat and boil hard for 10 minutes.
12 minStep 4: Lower the heat, cover with the lid slightly ajar and simmer for 80–90 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes, until the beans have burst and are completely soft. Add a splash of boiling water if it gets too thick.
90 minStep 5: Remove the peel. Whisk the soup vigorously for a minute, or blend a third of it, until it turns thick and creamy with some whole beans left.
Step 6: Add 4 oz rock sugar and simmer, stirring, for 5 minutes until dissolved. Taste and add more sugar if you like.
5 minStep 7: Serve hot, or chill and serve cold, with a swirl of 4 tbsp coconut milk if you like. It thickens as it cools; loosen with a little hot water.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 220 kcal
- Protein
- 9 g
- Carbs
- 46 g
- Fat
- 1 g
- Fibre
- 8 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does red bean soup take?
- About 120 minutes in total: 10 minutes to prepare and 110 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of rock sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
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