Hong dou tang () is a popular Chinese dish served in

Mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the China, People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming Island, Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territorie ...

, and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...

. It is categorized as a ''

tang shui ''Tong sui'' (; ), also known as ''tim tong'', is a collective term for any sweet, warm soup or custard served as a dessert at the end of a meal in Cantonese cuisine. ''Tong sui'' are a Cantonese specialty and many varieties are rarely foun ...

'' 糖水 (pinyin: táng shuǐ) (literally translated as sugar water) or sweet soup. It is often served cold during the summer, and hot in the winter. Leftover red bean soup can also be frozen to make

ice pop An ice pop is a liquid-based frozen snack on a stick. Unlike ice cream or sorbet, which are whipped while freezing to prevent ice crystal formation, an ice pop is "quiescently" frozen—frozen while at rest—and becomes a solid block of ice. ...

s and is a popular dessert. A similar dessert 紅豆沙 in Hong Kong is commonly mistaken by people outside Hong Kong as the same dessert, of which the latter one has a very different texture. In

Cantonese cuisine Cantonese or Guangdong cuisine, also known as Yue cuisine ( or ) is the cuisine of Guangdong province of China, particularly the provincial capital Guangzhou, and the surrounding regions in the Pearl River Delta including Hong Kong and Macau.H ...

, a red bean soup made from rock sugar, sun-dried tangerine peels, and lotus seeds is commonly served as a dessert at the end of a restaurant or banquet meal. Common variations include the addition of ingredients such as

sago Sago () is a starch extracted from the pith, or spongy core tissue, of various tropical palm stems, especially those of ''Metroxylon sagu''. It is a major staple food for the lowland peoples of New Guinea and the Maluku Islands, where it is c ...

(西米, pinyin: xī mi), tapioca, coconut milk, ice cream, glutinous rice balls, or

purple rice Black rice, also known as purple rice, is a range of rice types of the species ''Oryza sativa'', some of which are glutinous rice. There are several varieties of black rice available today. These include Indonesian black rice, Philippine hei ...

. The two types of sugar used interchangeably are

rock sugar Rock candy or sugar candy, also called rock sugar, or crystal sugar, is a type of confection composed of relatively large sugar crystals. This candy is formed by allowing a supersaturated solution of sugar and water to crystallize onto a su ...

and sliced sugar ().

Similar dishes

Unsweetened red bean porridge made with red beans and rice is eaten across China and East Asia. Japan has a similar variant called

Shiruko , or with the honorific , is a traditional Japanese dessert. It is a sweet porridge of azuki beans boiled and crushed, served in a bowl with . There are different styles of , such as with candied chestnuts, or with glutinous rice flour dumpling ...

. It is called ''hóngdòuzhōu'' () in Chinese, ''

patjuk ''Patjuk'' ( ko, 팥죽 ) is a type of Korean juk consisting of red beans and rice. It is commonly eaten during the winter season in Korea, and is associated to '' dongji'' (winter solstice), * as people used to believe that the red color of ''pa ...

'' () in Korean, and ''azukigayu'' () in Japanese.

Vietnamese cuisine Vietnamese cuisine encompasses the foods and beverages of Vietnam. Meals feature a combination of five fundamental tastes ( vi, ngũ vị, links=no, label=none): sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and spicy. The distinctive nature of each dish refle ...

also has a similar dish, called ''

chè ''Chè'' () is any traditional Vietnamese sweet beverage, dessert soup or stew, or pudding. ''Chè'' includes a wide variety of distinct soups or puddings. Varieties of Chè can be made with mung beans, black-eyed peas, kidney beans, tapioca ...

đỗ đen''. It contains added

coconut milk Coconut milk is an opaque, milky-white liquid extracted from the grated pulp of mature coconuts. The opacity and rich taste of coconut milk are due to its high oil content, most of which is saturated fat. Coconut milk is a traditional food ...

and sugar. It is served cold.

References

{{Soups Bean soups Cantonese cuisine Chinese desserts Chinese soups Cold soups Legume dishes Taiwanese soups

Similar dishes

See also

References