If mung bean soup is the light, cooling side of summer, red bean soup is its cozier cousin — thicker, rounder, a little more comforting. Made from small adzuki beans simmered down with a little rock sugar, hóng dòu tāng is one of the most beloved sweet soups in Chinese homes, and one of the most versatile: warm and soothing in winter, or chilled and refreshing in summer. It even freezes into excellent popsicles.

It's a forgiving, hands-off recipe — mostly a matter of letting the beans simmer until they soften and turn creamy. There's just one thing worth knowing up front, because it's where most people go wrong: getting the beans tender.

The one trick: getting the beans soft

Adzuki beans are stubborn. Cooked straight from dry, they can take well over an hour and still come out chalky. Two easy fixes:

• Soak them first. A few hours (or overnight) in cool water shortens the cooking time a lot and helps them cook evenly.
• Or use the rest-and-return method. Bring them to a boil, simmer 30 minutes, turn off the heat, cover, and let them sit for 30 minutes. The residual heat softens them from the inside, then you return to a simmer. Many home cooks swear this gives the creamiest result.

Either way, only add the sugar after the beans are soft — adding it too early can keep the beans firm.

Ingredients

Makes about 4–6 servings

• 200g (about 1 cup) dried adzuki / red beans (红豆)
• 60–80g rock sugar (冰糖), to taste
• About 1.5–2 liters (6–8 cups) water
• Optional: a small piece of dried tangerine peel (陈皮) for a subtle fragrant lift

How to make it

1. Soak. Rinse the beans and soak them in cool water for at least a few hours, ideally overnight. Drain.

2. Simmer. Add the beans to a pot with the water (and the tangerine peel, if using). Bring to a boil, then lower to a steady simmer.

3. Cook until soft. Let it simmer, partly covered, for about 45–60 minutes, until the beans are fully tender and beginning to break apart. Stir now and then, and top up with a little water if it gets too low. For a thicker, creamier soup, mash some of the beans against the side of the pot or simmer a little longer.

4. Sweeten. Once the beans are soft, stir in the rock sugar until dissolved. Taste and adjust — it should be gently sweet, letting the nutty bean flavor come through.

5. Serve warm, or chill. Enjoy it warm as a cozy bowl, or let it cool and refrigerate for at least 2–3 hours to serve cold in summer.

Tips

• Warm or chilled — your call. This soup genuinely shines both ways. Cozy and hot when it's cool out; cold from the fridge when it's hot.
• Make popsicles. Pour the sweetened soup (slightly on the thinner side) into molds and freeze for a simple, satisfying frozen treat.
• Add tangerine peel. A small piece of dried tangerine peel (陈皮) adds a lovely fragrant, slightly citrusy note that cuts the richness — a classic pairing worth trying.
• Keeps well. Stored in the fridge it holds for 3–4 days and thickens as it sits; loosen with a splash of water when reheating.

Building your sweet soup pantry

Adzuki beans are a cheap, shelf-stable staple worth keeping all summer. If you're stocking a Chinese sweet-soup pantry from scratch, the Pantry page lists the ingredients and tools I use and recommend.

Looking for more? Try its lighter cousin, the classic sweet mung bean soup, the cooling snow fungus soup with pear, or the cozy black sesame soup.

New sweet soup recipes land here every week — subscribe below to cook along.

If the chilled sweet soups of summer are about cooling down, this one is the opposite — a warm, glossy, deeply nutty bowl you wrap your hands around. Black sesame soup, hēi zhī ma hú, is one of the coziest desserts in the whole Chinese repertoire: smooth as velvet, toasty, and just sweet enough.

You may already know black sesame from the lattes and ice creams it's been turning up in lately. This is the original — and once you've had it freshly made, the instant packets never quite measure up. The good news is it's genuinely simple to make at home, and the smell of sesame toasting in the pan is half the pleasure.

The one step that makes all the difference

Black sesame's whole personality lives in its aroma, and that aroma comes from toasting. Raw black sesame tastes flat and a little bitter; toasted, it turns warm, nutty, and fragrant. So whatever else you do, toast the seeds first — it takes a few minutes and completely transforms the result.

You also have a choice in how you build the soup:

• From scratch (my preference): toast and grind whole black sesame yourself. Best flavor, a little more effort.
• From black sesame powder: a fine shortcut — but toast the powder briefly in a dry pan anyway to wake it up.

Either way, a small amount of rice (or glutinous rice) is the secret to that signature silky, slightly thick texture — it's what turns ground sesame and water into a smooth, spoonable soup rather than a gritty drink.

Ingredients

Makes about 4 servings

• 100g (about ¾ cup) black sesame seeds (黑芝麻)
• 40g (about 3 tbsp) raw white rice or glutinous rice (生米 / 糯米)
• 40–60g rock sugar (冰糖) or to taste
• About 1 liter (4 cups) water
• Optional: a splash of milk or coconut milk for a richer, creamier bowl

How to make it

1. Soak the rice. Rinse the rice and soak it in water for at least 1–2 hours (or overnight). This helps it blend smooth later.

2. Toast the sesame. In a dry pan over medium-low heat, toast the black sesame seeds, stirring constantly, for 3–5 minutes until they're fragrant and start to crackle. Don't let them burn — they go from toasty to bitter quickly. Let them cool slightly.

3. Blend. Add the toasted sesame, the soaked-and-drained rice, and about half the water to a blender. Blend until as smooth as you can get it — a minute or two. The smoother here, the silkier the soup.

4. Cook. Pour the blended mixture into a pot, add the remaining water, and bring to a gentle simmer over medium-low heat, stirring constantly so it doesn't catch on the bottom. It will thicken as it cooks, in about 8–12 minutes. Add a little more water if it gets thicker than you'd like.

5. Sweeten and finish. Stir in the rock sugar until dissolved. Taste and adjust. For a creamier bowl, stir in a splash of milk or coconut milk at the end.

6. Serve warm. Ladle into bowls and serve hot — this is a cozy, warming soup at heart.

Tips

• Strain for extra-smooth. If you like it ultra-silky, pass the blended mixture through a fine sieve before cooking.
• Toast a big batch. Toast extra sesame and keep it in a jar — it's a head start on your next bowl, and lovely sprinkled over rice or yogurt too.
• Adjust the thickness to taste. Some like it pourable like a warm drink, others thick enough to stand a spoon in. More water or less rice thins it; less water or more rice thickens it.
• Keeps a few days. Store in the fridge and gently reheat with a splash of water, stirring to bring it back together.

Building your sweet soup pantry

Black sesame is one of those dried staples worth keeping around — it's the base of this bowl and lovely far beyond it. If you're stocking a Chinese sweet-soup pantry from scratch, the Pantry page lists the ingredients and tools I use and recommend.

For lighter, chilled options now that it's warm out, try the chilled snow fungus soup with pear or the classic sweet mung bean soup.

When the heat becomes too much, a huge pot of this is what appears on stoves across southern China. Sweet mung bean soup — lǜ dòu tāng — is the original summer cooler: tiny green beans simmered until soft, lightly sweetened, and served ice-cold from the fridge. It's the bowl people grew up reaching for on the hottest afternoons, and once you've had it cold on a sweltering day, you'll understand exactly why.

It couldn't be simpler to make — really just beans, water, and a little rock sugar — but there's one fork in the road worth knowing about before you start, because it changes the whole character of the bowl. More on that in a second.

Two ways to make it — pick your texture

This is the part most recipes skip, and it's the difference between a good bowl and a disappointing one. Mung bean soup goes two directions, depending on how you cook it:

• Clear and refreshing (清绿汤). A thinner, greenish, brothy soup where the beans stay mostly whole. This is the lighter, more cooling version — the one most associated with beating the summer heat. The trick is a shorter cook so the beans don't fully burst.
• Thick and creamy (起沙). A cloudier, heartier soup where the beans break down and "bloom" into a soft, almost porridge-like texture. Richer and more filling. The trick is a longer cook, and stirring to help the beans break apart.

Neither is more correct — it's purely preference. I'll give you the method for both below.

Ingredients

Makes about 4–6 servings

• 200g (about 1 cup) dried mung beans (绿豆)
• 60–80g rock sugar (冰糖), to taste
• About 1.5–2 liters (6–8 cups) water
• Optional: a small piece of dried tangerine peel (陈皮) for a subtle fragrant note

How to make it

1. Rinse and (optionally) soak. Rinse the mung beans under cool water and discard any that float. Soaking them for an hour or two shortens the cooking time, but it isn't essential — you can cook them straight from dry.

2. Bring to a boil. Add the beans and water to a pot and bring to a boil, then lower to a steady simmer. Skim off any foam that rises in the first few minutes.

3a. For the CLEAR version: Simmer gently for about 20–25 minutes, until the beans are just tender but still mostly holding their shape and the liquid is greenish. Don't overcook. Some people pour off and chill this lighter "broth" separately for the most cooling drink.

3b. For the THICK version: Keep simmering for 40–60 minutes total, stirring now and then, until the beans burst open and the soup turns cloudy and soft. Add a splash more water if it gets too thick.

4. Sweeten. Once the beans have reached the texture you want, stir in the rock sugar until dissolved. Taste and adjust — it should be lightly sweet, not syrupy.

5. Chill and serve. Let it cool, then refrigerate for at least 2–3 hours. Serve cold. In high summer, a few ice cubes in the bowl are very welcome.

Tips

• Serve it cold. This is a chilled soup at heart. It's fine warm, but cold from the fridge on a hot day is the whole point.
• Freeze it into popsicles. Pour the sweetened soup into popsicle molds for an easy frozen treat — kids love these, and it's a great use for a big batch.
• Don't over-sweeten. Start with less sugar than you think; you can always add more, and the beans' own flavor should still come through.
• It keeps well. Stored in the fridge, it's good for 3–4 days — make a big pot and have it on hand all week.

There's a particular kind of relief that comes from a bowl of something cold and barely sweet on a hot afternoon — not the sugar-rush of ice cream, but something lighter, almost soothing. In Chinese homes, that something is often a bowl of chilled tong sui, and snow fungus soup is one of the loveliest places to start.

If you've never cooked with snow fungus before, this is the recipe that wins people over. The dried, coral-like mushroom transforms as it simmers into something silky and gently gelatinous, the pear melts into a soft sweetness, and a handful of red dates and goji berries round it out. Served cold from the fridge, it's one of the most refreshing desserts I know — and one of the easiest.

It's also a perfect first sweet soup because almost nothing can go wrong. There's no precise technique to master, just a slow, unhurried simmer while your kitchen fills with a faint, honeyed smell.

Why you'll like this one

• Make-ahead and chilled. It actually tastes better after a few hours in the fridge, so it's an ideal dessert to prep in the morning and serve after dinner.
• Barely sweet. Like most tong sui, it leans on the natural sweetness of pear and red dates, with just enough rock sugar to round it out.
• Forgiving. Simmer it a little longer or shorter and it still works. The textures are gentle and hard to ruin.

Ingredients

Makes about 4 servings

• 1 whole dried snow fungus (银耳), about 15–20g
• 1 large Asian pear (雪梨 / Ya pear), or 2 small ones
• 5–6 dried red dates (红枣)
• 40–50g rock sugar (冰糖), plus more to taste
• 1–2 tablespoons goji berries (枸杞)
• About 1.8–2 liters (8 cups) water

Optional: a small handful of dried longan (桂圆) or lotus seeds (莲子) add extra depth.

How to make it

1. Soak the snow fungus. Put the dried snow fungus in a bowl of cool water and let it soak for 20–30 minutes, until it blooms open and turns soft. Drain.

2. Trim and tear. Cut away and discard the firm yellowish base at the center — it never softens. Tear the rest into small, bite-sized pieces. Smaller pieces release their silky texture more readily.

3. Start the simmer. Add the snow fungus and red dates to a pot with the water. Bring to a boil, then lower to a gentle simmer. Let it cook, partly covered, for about 40–60 minutes, stirring occasionally. Over time the liquid will turn slightly thicker and the fungus softer and more gelatinous — that's exactly what you want.

4. Add the pear and sugar. Peel and core the pear and cut it into bite-sized cubes. Add it to the pot along with the rock sugar (and the optional longan or lotus seeds, if using). Simmer another 20–30 minutes, until the pear is soft and translucent.

5. Finish with goji. Rinse the goji berries and stir them in during the last 5 minutes — they only need to plump up, not cook down. Taste and add a little more rock sugar if you'd like it sweeter.

6. Chill. Let the soup cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for at least 2–3 hours (or overnight). Serve cold in small bowls or glasses.

Tips

• Warm or cold. This soup is just as classic served hot in cooler months. The same pot carries you through the year — chilled in summer, steaming in winter.
• On thickness. The longer you simmer the snow fungus, the silkier and thicker the soup. If you like it more brothy, simmer less; for a thicker, almost syrupy texture, give it more time.
• Make it ahead. It keeps in the fridge for 2–3 days and the flavor deepens, so don't be afraid to make a big pot.