What is Red Bean Soup?
Red Bean soup, or Hong Dou Sha (红豆沙) is a traditional Chinese dessert that can be consumed warm or cold! It is a type of dessert named tong sui, or sweet soup.
Even though this dessert has its roots in China, it is served in many parts of the world like Southeast Asia. Where I am from, Singapore, we cook the adzuki beans (red beans), with coconut cream and pandan leaves. This recipe will describe this variation of Red Bean Soup.
What this recipe means to me
please note this section contains images of persons who have passed away
Red Bean soup is a dessert my mother cooked for YeYe (my paternal grandfather) when he was hospitalised. He was diagnosed with dysphagia and prescribed a liquidised or moderately thick diet (IDDSI Level 3). After his diagnosis, he often expressed wanting to eat 'normal' foods. Red Bean Soup does not differ much in consistency or taste when adjusted to a modified diet! My mother and AhMa (my paternal grandmother) prepared this for him, along with other tong sui like sweet almond soup. This recipe has been specifically adjusted to fit IDDSI descriptors, ensuring that there are no large chunks of adzuki bean in the final dish. My Yeye has since passed away in early 2025.
YeYe loved to paint! You may even have noticed one of his paintings in the title slide. He often went solo backpacking with his foldable bicycle to different countries, even in 2024 at the age of 85! He was a free spirit who loved to see the world and gain authentic cultural experiences. Watercolour paintings of busy streets, markets, and boats were what he was most well known for. YeYe was also a very generous art teacher, sharing his techniques and knowledge with his art students, who he also liked to travel with.
The Recipe
1. Add adzuki beans, pandan leaves, and 330ml of water into the heaviest pot you have. I am using a cast iron pot as it retains heat well, and is good for dishes that require long boiling times. This is optional though!
2. Set heat to high until boiling.
3. Once boiling, cover your pot and turn the heat down to medium. Leave for 20-30 minutes until beans have softened and most of the water has been absorbed by the beans. If you are using a lighter pot, check on your dish during this step to ensure the beans do not burn.
4. Once the beans have been softened like in the picture, add in another 330ml of water to your pot.
5. Remove the pandan leaves.
6. Using an immersion blender/handheld blender, blend the mixture until no large clumps remain. Don't worry about blending it too smoothly, as this process is just to break down the beans to speed up the cooking process.
7. Cook the mixture down on medium heat for another 10-15 minutes
8. Add in the sugar and coconut cream. Stir until combined. Add in more sugar to taste! (I like mine sweet, so I added in another 10 grams of sugar).
12. Stir thoroughly before serving. When served warm, the red bean soup is IDDSI level 2. When served cold, it is IDDSI level 3. This recipe serves about 3- 4 small bowls, depending on your serving size.
13. Garnish with up to 1/2 tsp of coconut cream. I dotted the surface of the soup with coconut cream, and ran a skewer through the dots to make the pattern pictured on the left!