Red Bean Soup with Chenpi
陳皮紅豆沙·(chan pei hung dau sa)
Tong Sui: Nostalgic Sweet Endings
A proper Cantonese dinner doesn't end with heavy pastry; it ends with a restorative bowl of hot sugar water. For a kid growing up in the diaspora, the sharp, medicinal fragrance of rehydrating aged tangerine peel is the universal signal that something deeply comforting is bubbling on the stove. Achieving the crucial sandy texture usually requires hours of simmering, but grandmother's weeknight secret relies on physics. Freezing the soaked beans overnight causes a violent thermal shock when they hit boiling water, shattering their cellular walls and coaxing out a rich, creamy soup in a fraction of the time.
Before you start
Freeze the beans.
Place the rinsed adzuki beans in a freezer-safe bowl and cover with cold water by about an inch. Freeze for at least 4 hours or overnight until completely solid.
Tame the peel.
Unless you are using highly expensive vintage chenpi, the white pith contains rutin, which will turn the soup horribly bitter. Lay the soaked tangerine peel flat and use a spoon to gently scrape away the spongy white pith before slicing the peel into thin strips.
Ingredients
- adzuki beans1 cup
- dried tangerine peel2 small
- water6 cup
- rock sugar100 g
- kosher salt1/4 tsp
Method
- 01
Shock the beans.
Bring 6 cups of water to a rolling boil in a heavy-bottomed pot, then drop the frozen block of beans and ice directly into the water to forcefully crack their cell walls.
- 02
Simmer with the peel.
Add the sliced tangerine peel, bring the pot back to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover with the lid slightly ajar and simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- 03
Mash for texture.
Check the beans to ensure they are bursting open. Use a ladle to press a portion of them against the side of the pot, forcing the internal starches into the liquid to create a rich, sandy consistency.
- 04
Sweeten the pot.
Never add sugar before the beans are completely soft, or they will lock up and remain permanently hard. Once mashed to your liking, stir in the rock sugar and salt.
- 05
Dissolve and serve.
Stir continuously for another 10 to 15 minutes until the sugar dissolves and the soup is thick and velvety. Serve warm.
Notes
The weeknight pressure cooker cheat.
If you forgot to freeze the beans, add unsoaked beans, scraped peel, salt, and 6 cups of water to an electric pressure cooker. Cook on High for 30 minutes with a 20-minute natural release. It will look watery when you open it. Switch to Sauté, add the sugar, and boil aggressively for 15 minutes while mashing the beans against the side of the pot to emulsify.