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. ;)
Sweet Red Bean Soup: Recipe Instructions
First, rinse the dried adzuki 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 facts
Do you boil the beans with the lid on the pot or without the lid?
With the lid on.
Can the sweet rice balls from your coconut tapioca dessert recipe be added to this soup?
Yes, absolutely!
When I was a young child (many decades ago), my mother, who was a Japanese native, would make a sweet adzuki bean soup (leaving them whole). after they were tender, she would add small dumplings (the size of marbles) probably made from rice flour and simmer them in the beans. The dumplings were a slightly chewy but such a great addition.
Drat! Wish you had an edit button. Apologies for the type-o’s.
Hi Jane, what you are describing is sweet red bean soup with mochi balls. Yum!
Can you use tinned adzuki beans for this recipe?
I wouldn’t. You can use canned adzuki beans as filling for buns, bread, and mooncakes and su style mooncakes.
Thank you for this variation with the overnight soaking of the red beans and adding of tapioca pearls
Hi Makoto, so glad you enjoyed it :-)
Should the beans be kept at room temperature or in the fridge for the overnight soak?
Hi Ann, definitely in the refrigerator.
Do you have an instant pot recipe for this? Thanks!
No, I only have an instant pot recipe to make sweet red bean filling.
I have done this in the instant pot and use the bean/chili setting for 45 minutes. Make sure your water is below the line. After natural release, the beans are still whole. I add the sugar and then press sauté with the lid for about 10 minutes.
Thank you for sharing your cooking tip, Helen.
I have adzuki beans and dried orange peel in my pantry, and this seems like the perfect way to use them! Do you think this recipe would work with a crockpot? I’m also wondering if I would need to soak the beans overnight if I’m using a crockpot. Any advice??
Thanks!!
Hi Cheryl, it’s best to wash and soak the beans overnight. This will shorten the cooking time drastically. You can use a crockpot––just know that it actually cooks very fast when the beans are new.
Got it, thanks! Looking forward to trying this soon :)