You’re at a Chinese banquet, and you’ve made it.
You’ve thoroughly enjoyed the cold platter of meats & jellyfish, the delicate stir-fried squid with mixed vegetables, the heavenly five-spice fried chicken, the walnut-mayonnaise fried shrimp and broccoli, the Cantonese-style lobster with ginger and scallions, the whole steamed fish, the fried rice, AND the longevity noodles.
Well, technically you’ve blasted way past “enjoyment” into the realm of food coma. You don’t know exactly how you crammed that many courses into your bloated stomach. You’re wondering why you went so crazy on the ice chips and Sprite. And did you really need that last bowl of noodles? WITH chili oil? You’re about to spiral into a long-winded contemplation about how it was supposed to be a genteel banquet, not a violation of one of the seven deadly sins….
And then, the waiters roll through. They distribute the takeout containers always required to handle the overflow of banquet leftovers and simultaneously put down hot bowls of red bean soup. The soup is thick, sweet, and studded with tiny, ever so slightly chewy, clear tapioca pearls.
You survey the wreckage one more time. You reach for the red bean soup. There’s probably a little more room left…
What follows is a recipe for the red bean soup for which there always seems to be just enough room left. ;)
You’ll need:
- 2 cups dried adzuki beans
- 8 cups water
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ teaspoon orange zest
- 2-3 tablespoons small tapioca pearls (or more if you like)
First, rinse the beans under cold water. Then, soak the beans in water for at least 8 hours (overnight).
Drain the beans and transfer to a medium-sized pot. Add 6 cups of fresh water. Bring to a boil, then let simmer for 1 hour. Over the course of the hour, add an additional 2 cups of water as needed.
When the beans look soft and broken down, use an immersion blender to blend until the beans are just broken up–it shouldn’t be completely smooth (unless that’s your preference–you’re the cook here!). You can also transfer to a blender and pulse a few times until you achieve your desired consistency.
Transfer the blended mixture back to the pot. If you like a soupier consistency, feel free to add additional water at this stage until you reach your desired consistency. Add the sugar and orange zest using your trusty microplane.
Stir over medium to medium-high heat to dissolve the sugar. The mixture should bubble very gently.
Next, add the small tapioca pearls.
Cook for 20 minutes until the tapioca pearls become translucent. Some recipes recommend cooking the tapioca separately, but it works just fine to add them directly to the soup. When the tapioca pearls are totally translucent, it’s ready to serve!
Sweet Red Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 2 cups dried adzuki beans
- 8 cups water
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ teaspoon orange zest
- 2-3 tablespoons tapioca pearls
Instructions
- First, rinse the beans under cold water. Then, soak the beans in water for at least 8 hours (overnight).
- Drain the beans and transfer to a medium-sized pot. Add 6 cups of fresh water. Bring to a boil, then let simmer for 1 hour. Over the course of the hour, add an additional 2 cups of water as needed.
- When the beans look soft and broken down, use an immersion blender to blend until the beans are just broken up--it shouldn’t be completely smooth (unless that’s your preference--you’re the cook here!). You can also transfer to a blender and pulse a few times until you achieve your desired consistency.
- Transfer the blended mixture back to the pot. If you like a soupier consistency, feel free to add additional water at this stage until you reach your desired consistency. Add the sugar and orange zest. Stir over medium to medium-high heat to dissolve the sugar. The mixture should bubble very gently.
- Next, add the tapioca. Cook for 20 minutes until the tapioca pearls become translucent. Some recipes recommend cooking the tapioca separately, but it works just fine to add them directly to the soup. When the tapioca pearls are totally translucent, it’s ready to serve!
Nutrition
Ling says
My mum used to make this all the time and it was one of my favourites as a child. So I was really pleased to be able to make it for the first time and was surprised how easy and tasty it was!
The orange zest and tapioca is a nice touch for added flavour and texture and my kids loved it! Though I blended it a bit too much it was still lovely!
Thank you!
Judy says
This is the “dessert” that we grew up with and it always tastes like home to me :-)
Roger says
When I lived in Hong Kong, we would make this soup in the summer, eat it hot for the first meal and after that we would eat it cold. It was a great dish when it was so hot outside.
I know this is considered a dessert dish, but if this were the main dish for a meal, what would you serve with it?
Thanks, I love your recipes.
Judy says
Hi Roger, this is an interesting questions, the first thing that popped into my mind was to add sticky rice balls, with or without filling. I would cook the rice balls separately though. Hope you like my idea.
KG says
Wow! Is the soup reheatable? And how long does it last in the fridge if so? Thanks!
Kaitlin says
Hi KG, the soup is definitely reheatable; just add a little bit of water to rejuvenate and heat in a small pot on the stove. Microwaving might result in highly unfortunate soup splatters all over the place, since it’s bean-based. I would say this lasts for 2 weeks max. Keep it on the top shelf in the back so it stays cold enough!
KG says
Thank you Kaitlin!
lammie says
I’m planning to make this for Thanksgiving (we’re having a non-traditional Thanksgiving) – Can I make this today to serve on Thursday? Will the tapioca pearls still be good or should I leave the tapioca to make on the day?
Judy says
Sorry to have missed your comment. You can make the soup ahead of time and add the tapioca on the day you serve it.
Louise says
This looks amazing!!!! It’s so hard to find red bean soup that’s worth eating in restaurants. Always looks like brown mud water with some beans thrown in. Once in a while after a meal we are fortunate to some across a sweet clear cold soup that has some kind of melon in it which is light and refreshing. I have no idea what it’s called tho. But my all time fave is hot black sesame tong shu (spelling??? Terrible I know) Anyone remember the restaurant in Flushing and on Mott St. Called Sweet & Tart cafe? That place was the BOMB!
Kaitlin says
Agree! Only a select few places we’ve been to do it really really well. That cold melon soup sounds interesting! I’ll ask my mom about it. And I actually have never had black sesame soup, but it looks amazing.
(Also, we <3 Flushing)
Nancy says
No gingko? That would be the highlight of this dish ?
Kaitlin says
Ahhhh gingkoooo we forgot! But definitely a good way to make this recipe even more authentic!
Pamela says
Here in Japan, when I cook adzuki beans I never need to soak them. They are really tiny. They cook up in about 45-60 minutes. I like the idea of adding orange zest! I want to try making them this way, it sounds and looks so good!
Kaitlin says
That sounds luxurious! We get slightly larger beans here in the US. The orange zest is a really nice addition, and it kind of echoes how the flavors play out at a real Chinese banquet, when they also often serve orange slices as part of the dessert course. Let us know how the recipe turns out for you! :)
Bill says
Your first paragraph describes a Chinese Engineers Club Banquet that I attended at The Empress of China in San Francisco in 1972 – only the very LAST course was a large tureen of West Lake Duck Soup — It could of been the whole meal — I did manage to shoehorn in a couple ‘small’ bowls — had barley in it!
Kaitlin says
Hahahaha “shoe horn”…Sounds like you’re a banquet pro! Only the most disciplined and food infatuated can survive to the end ;)
Sophia says
Yes!! I remember emailing you about a red bean recipe – thank you so much for following up on this! I can’t wait to try it :)
Kaitlin says
You’re welcome, Sophia!
Susan in PDX says
This is so timely. Just yesterday, I was staring at some Adzuki beans and wanted to buy them. I’ll walk back over and grab them today. Is this meant to be dessert? In other words, always served after a meal?
Kaitlin says
Hi Susan, yes it’s a dessert, but Chinese dessert soups are being enjoyed as an afternoon snack or treat more often these days as well!
Susan in PDX says
Thanks Kaitlin. Yes, I made the soup and have been eating it more as just a really fun and delicious snack. I really love it after a good workout.
Kaitlin says
The perfect reward for some cardio, Susan :) Glad you enjoyed it!
heather (delicious not gorgeous) says
THIS IS MY FAVORITE, HANDS DOWN. when i have it at restaurants, this is the version i get, but when i make it at home, it’s just adzuki beans, water and brown sugar. and i love it with a splash of milk (and if you freeze the milky red bean soup, you get red bean pops!!).
Kaitlin says
Hey Heather, that is a tantalizing idea! Red bean pops officially on our horizon!