Sweet Red Bean Soup（Hong Dou Tang）

Sweet Red Bean Soup is a type of soup made primarily with red beans and sweetened with rock sugar. It has a fragrant sweetness and a smooth texture that warms both the stomach and the heart. Many people enjoy sweet treats and love to drink milk tea beverages, especially women, who have a particular fondness for sweets. Actually, there's nothing strange about it—sweetness is a flavor, and it's perfectly understandable that some people enjoy it. Learning how to make Sweet Red Bean Soup allows you to enjoy sweet treats at home.

For those addicted to milk tea, you might want to try Sweet Red Bean Soup as a way to shift your focus. It not only offers the happiness that milk tea brings but also benefits digestion, boosts energy, and nourishes the blood. For friends who enjoy desserts, why not give it a try and learn how to make it yourself!

1.What kind of sugar to use?

The choice depends on personal taste and needs.

Brown sugar is sweet and mellow, with a warm nature. It aids digestion, soothes the liver, nourishes blood, and promotes circulation. If the purpose of drinking red bean soup is to nourish blood and support digestion, it is recommended to use brown sugar.

Rock sugar is sweet and neutral in nature. It benefits the middle burner, nourishes qi, nourishes yin and generates fluids, moisturizes the lungs, and relieves coughs. If you have symptoms such as internal heat, cough, or dryness in the mouth, adding rock sugar to red bean soup would be more suitable.

2.What ingredients can be added?

Sweet Red Bean Soup can include lotus seeds and lily bulbs. It's a traditional dessert often served at celebratory banquets, especially weddings, where lotus seeds symbolize fertility and lily bulbs symbolize harmony and lasting relationships. Lotus seeds are known for their calming effect on the heart and are recommended for middle-aged and elderly individuals, as well as those engaged in mental work, to enhance brain function, memory, and work efficiency. Lily bulbs nourish the heart, calm the mind, moisten the lungs, and relieve coughs, making them suitable for all ages.

3.Why do red beans taste bitter?

①Normal phenomenon: Some varieties of red beans naturally possess a strong bitter taste, which is a normal flavor characteristic and nothing to be concerned about.

②Spoilage: Red beans can develop a bitter taste if they become damp, moldy, or are stored for a long time, leading to spoilage. Spoiled red beans should be discarded and not consumed.

③Improper cooking methods: Incorrect cooking methods, such as insufficient soaking and cooking of red beans, or using poor-quality water, can also lead to bitterness in the beans.

If red beans taste bitter, it's advisable to identify the cause. If it's due to spoilage, they should not be consumed to avoid potential adverse effects on health.

4.What kind of pot should be used to cook this?

For cooking Sweet Red Bean Soup, you can use various types of pots, but it's best to avoid using iron pots. There's no strict rule on the type of pot to use, but different pots will affect the texture and cooking time of the soup. For instance, using a pressure cooker will make the red beans easier to soften quickly, while using a clay pot may require a longer cooking time but can enhance the soup's flavor. However, it's advisable not to use an iron pot for cooking Sweet Red Bean Soup. Iron pots have poor sealing properties, and the iron can react with oxygen, causing the soup to darken in color, which affects its appearance.

5.How to store Sweet Red Bean Soup?

If you haven't finished drinking Sweet Red Bean Soup and plan to keep it overnight, remember to refrigerate it. The lower temperature in the refrigerator helps inhibit bacterial growth and prolongs the shelf life of the soup to some extent. Therefore, you can cover the leftover Sweet Red Bean Soup with plastic wrap or store it in a container and place it in the refrigerator. If the room temperature is relatively low, below 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit), you can also store it in a cool, ventilated place. However, it's important not to add sugar when storing Sweet Red Bean Soup, as it can accelerate spoilage.

Making Sweet Red Bean Soup this way results in a rich and delicious flavor. Learning to make it can satisfy cravings for milk tea. It can be enjoyed as a nutritious breakfast or dessert after meals. Below, I'll share a simple recipe for dried tangerine peel red bean soup. This week, you can learn to make it and treat your family to this delightful dish.