Red Bean Black Glutinous Rice dessert is a very popular traditional Chinese dessert. A type of sweet soup (known as Tong Sui 糖水), this is a delicious sweet dessert that you can easily make at home. Sweet and nutty with an amazing texture, this dessert will be your new favourite recipe.
Watch How To Make Red Bean Black Glutinous Rice Dessert 红豆黑糯米糖水食谱 (Tong Sui) – Recipe Video
Red Bean Black Glutinous Rice dessert is a very popular traditional Chinese dessert. It is a simple and healthy dessert to have especially after a sumptuous meal. In short, it is the perfect end to a good meal. It is also a popular dessert served at the end of a Chinese restaurant banquet. You can taste the flavour of red beans in the thick soup. It tastes nutty and earthy, with mildly sweet soft red beans and rich creamy taste of thick coconut milk.
The sweet creamy thick Red bean soup is studded with tiny, slightly chewy, clear pearl sago. It can be served hot, cold or at room temperature. If you like nutty and earthy smooth texture in a soup, this sweet dessert is a MUST try for you!
What is Red Bean Black Glutinous Rice Dessert
Red bean Black Glutinous Rice Dessert belongs to the family of Tong Sui / 糖水, a dessert category for sweet treats in soup form that are popular in Chinese food. This red bean dessert is made from 3 main ingredients, namely Adzuki Beans or Red Beans, Black Glutinous Rice and Pearl Sago.
Basically, the dried red beans and black glutinous rice are cooked till soft and creamy with a nice bite of soft red beans and black glutinous rice. Then sugar, salt and thick coconut milk are added. Lastly cooked pearl sago is added for more texture. It has a unique nutty, earthy and mildly sweet taste flavour. This is definitely a great way to include red bean and black glutinous rice in our diet is in the form of dessert.
Ingredients Needed To Make Red Bean Black Glutinous Rice Dessert
- Red Beans
- Black Glutinous Rice
- Pearl Sago
- Salt
- Sugar
- Water
- Thick Coconut Milk
- Pandan Leaves
How to Make Red Bean Black Glutinous Rice Dessert
- Bring 2 litres of water to a boil on medium heat.
- Add cleaned red beans and black glutinous rice and bring to a boil again.
- Cover, bring heat to low to simmer for 2 hrs 30 minutes or till red beans and black glutinous rice softened.
- Meanwhile cook the pearl sago
- After 2 hours 30 minutes (red beans and black glutinous rice softened), add salt, sugar, thick coconut milk and pandan leaves. Stir and bring to a boil again.
- Add cooked pearl sago. Stir and bring to a boil again. Then cover and off heat.
How to cook in a Pressure Cooker
To speed up the cooking time, use an instant pot or a stovetop pressure cooker to cook the beans and black glutinous rice in water which is 4 times the volume of dried beans. It takes about 30 minutes on high pressure. Allow the pressure to release naturally. Then add the salt, sugar and thick coconut milk and stir to mix well.
How To Serve Red Bean Black Glutinous Rice Dessert
This sweet dessert can be served in many ways.
- It is usually served in a dessert bowl and taste great when consumed hot, warm, chilled or at room temperature If you prefer to serve it cold, do note that the soup will become thicker if you chill it overnight.
- As the soup cools, its consistency will become thicker. To thin it, simply add a little hot water and mix well before serving.
- you can also swirl a tablespoon of thick coconut milk on the top of the red bean dessert before serving. Thisadds flavor to the red bean soup and doubles up as garnish.
- For the ultimate combo, cooked glutinous rice balls or taro balls can be added into the soup shortly before serving or pair it with steamed or fried rice cake eaten together.
How To Store Red Bean Black Glutinous Rice Dessert
You can make a big batch of the red bean black glutinous rice dessert ahead of time and freeze it in portions. Whenever you want to have it, simply defrost the amount in the fridge, then reheat it to serve. Make sure to store the dessert in airtight containers. It can be kept in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Benefits of Red Bean Black Glutinous Rice Dessert
- This dessert is rich in protein, dietary fiber, iron and other nutrients.
- It is said to be good during pregnancy as it is high in fibre. This makes it great in improving the digestive health.
- With warming properties (yang) according to Chinese medicine studies, red beans are suitable during winter or the rainy season. Drinking a bowl of warm red bean soup can warm the body.
- Also in traditional Chinese medicine, red beans are categorized as herbs that drain dampness. It helps remove coldness from the body, increases blood circulation, eliminates toxins, and reduces swelling.
Important Recipe Tips To Make Red Bean Black Glutinous Rice Dessert
- To prevent the dessert from tasting bitter, use fresh red beans. The older they are, the more likely you’ll end up with bitter undertones. It is important to wash and rinse the red beans well before cooking to prevent the soup from turning bitter. You can try soaking the red beans beforehand.
- To be very sure that the red beans you have are not bitter, taste the soup after cooking for 30 minutes. If it is bitter, discard the water and continue simmering the beans with clean water.
- Use a large pot with a thick bottom to cook the red bean soup. This is to prevent the soup from spilling over and also to prevent the red beans and glutinous rice from being burnt at the bottom.
- If cooking on the stove, suggest to use 1 part of dried beans with 5 parts of water (in volume). If using an instant pot (or a stovetop pressure cooker), reduce the water to 4 parts as there won’t be much evaporation.
- After simmering for about an hour, the colour of the soup will change to dark maroon. This indicates the red beans and black glutinous rice have started to disintegrate. The beans and black glutinous rice have softened and broken down.
- Start adding with less sugar when sweetening the dessert. You can always add more if needed sweeter later.
Do check out our other Dessert Recipes too:
- Homemade Soy Milk 自制豆浆
- Double Skin Milk Pudding 双皮奶布丁
- Peanut Glutinous Rice Balls (Plain & Matcha Tang Yuan) 双色花生汤圆
- Pumpkin Sago Glutinous Rice Balls 金瓜汤圆西米露
- Tau Foo Fah (Douhua / Soybean Pudding) 豆腐花
- Taro, Purple Sweet Potato and Pumpkin Glutinous Rice Balls 芋头紫薯金瓜汤圆
- Purple Sweet Potato Glutinous Rice Balls (Onde Onde) 紫薯汤圆椰丝球
- Black Sesame Glutinous Rice Balls (Tang Yuan) 黑芝麻汤圆
- Glutinous Sweet Rice Balls (Tang Yuan) in Osmanthus Ginger Syrup 桂花姜汁汤圆
- Sweet Glutinous Rice Balls with Gingko Nuts (Tang Yuan) 杏仁糖汤圆
Red Bean Black Glutinous Rice Dessert Recipe 红豆黑糯米糖水食谱 (Tong Sui)
Tap or Hover to Adjust Servings
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 120 grams red beans, rinsed and drained
- 150 grams black glutinous rice, rinsed and drained
- 2 litre water, 8 cups
- 80 grams pearl sago
- 1 tsp salt
- 140 grams sugar
- 250 ml thick coconut milk
- 4 pandan leaves, knotted
Rinse the red bean and black glutinous rice with water to remove impurities and dirt. Drain well. Also knot the pandan leaves.
Bring 2 litres of water to a boil using medium heat.
Add the red bean and black glutinous rice. Stir to mix well. Then bring to a boil again.
Next reduce heat to low. Cover and cook for 2 hours 30 minutes, stirring constantly until the red beans and black glutinous rice have softened. (The time can be shortened if cooked using a pressure cooker).
Meanwhile cook the pearl sago. First bring water in a pot to a boil. Add in the pearl sago and boil for 1 minute. There is no need to stir. Cover the pot and off heat. Allow the remaining heat to continue cooking the sago for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, open the lid and check. The sago is fully cooked when it is all translucent and has no white do in the middle. (If there is still a little white dot in the middle, cover the pot and allow it to continue to cook for another 10 minutes).
Remove cooked sago from the pot. Strain and rinse them under cold running water a few times to remove any residual starch. Put the cooked sago in enough water to cover it until ready to use.
When red bean and black glutinous rice have softened (after 2hrs 30mins) add in salt, sugar, thick coconut milk and knotted pandan leaves. Stir to mix well.
Bring to boil over medium heat. Then add in the cooked sago and stir to mix well. Bring to a boil again. Cover and off the heat. Let sago continue to cook for another 5 minutes.
Lastly remove the pandan leaves. The sweet dessert is now ready to be served.
Place the red bean dessert into serving bowls and is served hot or cold as is. Additional coconut milk is drizzled for extra flavour. So Enjoy!
Instructions
Preparing Ingredients:
Cooking Red Bean and Black Glutinous Rice dessert:
Enjoy!
Recipe Video
Notes
-
- Try to use fresh red beans. The older they are, the more likely you’ll end up with bitter undertones. It is important to wash and rinse the red beans well before cooking to prevent the soup from turning bitter. You can try soaking the red beans beforehand.
- To be very sure that the red beans you have are not bitter, taste the soup after cooking for 30 minutes. If it is bitter, discard the water and continue simmering the beans with clean water.
- Use a large pot with a thick bottom to cook the red bean soup. This is to prevent the soup from spilling over and also to prevent the red beans and glutinous rice from being burnt.
- If cooking on the stove, suggest to use 1 part of dried beans with 5 parts of water (in volume). If using an instant pot (or a stovetop pressure cooker), reduce the water to 4 parts as there won’t be much evaporation.
- After simmering for about an hour, the colour of the soup will change to dark maroon. This indicates the red beans and black glutinous rice have started to disintegrate. The beans and black glutinous rice have softened and broken down.
- Start adding with less sugar when sweetening the dessert. You can always add more if needed sweeter later.
