This authentic Red Bean Soup recipe features red beans, black glutinous rice, tapioca, and coconut milk. It's creamy, delicious, and ever-so-slightly sweet. It's traditionally served at the end of a meal in a restaurant, but now you can make it at home!
Can't get enough of Chinese desserts? Try my Mung Bean Soup and Hong Kong French Toast next!
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🫘 What is Red Bean Soup?
It's a classic Chinese sweet soup often served at the end of meals, especially at large banquet dinners. The basic soup is made by simmering red beans for several hours until soft, then sweetening it with Chinese brown candy (peen tong).
There are infinite variations, but the most common ones include lotus seeds, coconut milk, black glutinous rice, or tapioca pearls.
🧂 Ingredients
- Dried red beans: Also called adzuki beans, they're available at most Asian grocery stores. They'll need to be soaked for at least 8 hours before cooking. Please note that adzuki beans are different from red kidney beans, which are larger and less sweet. Adzuki beans are typically used in sweet desserts, whereas kidney beans are used in savory applications.
- Black glutinous rice: If you can't find black glutinous rice, it's often labeled simply as black rice, so go for that.
- Tapioca pearls: Use the smaller variety, about the size of mustard seeds.
- Coconut milk: For this recipe, use low-fat coconut milk. Full fat makes it too creamy and heavy for an end-of-dinner dessert.
- Brown sugar: Traditionally, Chinese brown candy is used, but I've found regular brown sugar works just fine.
- Dried tangerine peel: Adds a subtle citrus and bitter note to the soup.
🔪 Instructions
STEP 1: Rinse the dried adzuki beans under cold water. Then, soak them in water for at least 8 hours. There should be at least 1 inch of water above the beans.
STEP 2: Drain the beans and place them in a large pot. Rinse the black glutinous rice and add it to the pot. Add 13 cups of water, salt, and dried tangerine peel. Bring to a boil, then reduce to low heat and let it simmer for 1.5 hours. Stir it every 15 minutes to redistribute the ingredients and prevent burning.
STEP 3: Add the brown sugar and tapioca pearls. Gently stir to dissolve the sugar. Increase the heat to medium until it begins to boil, then reduce to low and cook for 20 minutes. The tapioca pearls should be translucent.
STEP 4: Stir in the coconut milk and simmer for another 5 minutes.
💭 Top Tips
- Wash the beans and rice thoroughly. You don't want any dirt or dust in your soup!
- Use low-fat coconut milk because full fat can be too rich for an end-of-dinner dessert.
- Add extra water if the soup is too thick. Cook longer if the soup is too thin.
🥡 Storage & Leftovers
Storing: Let soup cool to room temperature, then refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Reheating: Place the portion you want to eat in a small pot, add 2 tablespoons of water per cup of soup, and heat on medium heat until warm.
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📋 Recipe
Red Bean Soup (Authentic recipe)
Ingredients
- 2 cups dried adzuki beans
- 13 cups water
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup black glutinous rice
- ½ cup tapioca pearls
- 1 can coconut milk (400ml, light/low-fat preferred)
- ½ teaspoon coarse kosher salt (use half the amount if you’re using table salt)
- 1 dried tangerine peel
Instructions
- Rinse the dried adzuki beans under cold water. Then, soak them in water for at least 8 hours. There should be at least 1 inch of water above the beans.
- Drain the beans and place them in a large pot. Rinse the black glutinous rice and add it to the pot. Add 13 cups of water, salt, and dried tangerine peel. Bring to a boil, then reduce to low heat and let it simmer for 1.5 hours. Stir it every 15 minutes to redistribute the ingredients and prevent burning.
- Add the brown sugar and tapioca pearls. Gently stir to dissolve the sugar. Increase the heat to medium until it begins to boil, then reduce to low and cook for 20 minutes. The tapioca pearls should be translucent.
- Stir in the coconut milk and simmer for another 5 minutes. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Wash the beans and rice thoroughly. You don't want any dirt or dust in your soup!
- Use low-fat coconut milk because full fat can be too rich for an end-of-dinner dessert.
- Add extra water if the soup is too thick. Cook longer if the soup is too thin.
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