Black Sesame Soup (芝麻糊 (Zhīma hú))

Overview

Black sesame soup is a thick, sweet Chinese dessert soup made from toasted black sesame seeds and rice. The seeds are toasted until fragrant and ground with soaked rice and water into a fine, dark paste, which is cooked with sugar, stirring constantly, until smooth and as thick as a light pudding. In Cantonese cooking it is a classic tong sui, or sweet soup, and it is sold in dessert shops in southern China and Hong Kong. It is served hot, sometimes with tangyuan, small glutinous rice balls, floating in it. The flavour is nutty, roasted and gently sweet.

History

Black sesame soup is part of the long tradition of Cantonese sweet soups, which are eaten as desserts or late-night snacks. In traditional Chinese food beliefs, black foods such as black sesame are said to nourish the kidneys and keep the hair black, and the soup is valued as a nourishing food as well as a treat. It is now also sold as instant powder in supermarkets across China.

Main ingredients

Black sesame seeds, rice, sugar, water, glutinous rice balls. The soup is built on ground sesame and rice and is usually served hot. Diet: vegan; usually gluten-free.

Explore: Rice soups · More soups from China

Recipe

4Serves

30 min10 prep · 20 cook

~260kcal / serving

EasyDifficulty

Method

1. 1

   Toast the sesame seeds in a dry pan until fragrant, then cool.

2. 2

   Blend the seeds and drained rice with the water until very smooth, then strain.

3. 3

   Pour into a pan with the sugar and bring slowly to a simmer, stirring constantly.

4. 4
   5 min

   Cook for 5 minutes until thick and smooth.

5. 5

   Serve hot, with rice balls if you like.

6. ✓

   Serve. About 30 min from start to bowl.

Sources

• Black sesame soup (Wikipedia)
• Tong sui (Wikipedia)

Description, history and recipe written by SoupWiki and checked against the sources above. Calories and times are rough estimates.