Beans, peanuts, ginger – the sweet soup desserts Chinese like, and how the tradition has adapted to young diners’ changing tastes
- The owner of Kai Kai Dessert in Jordan tries multiple varieties of each dessert soup ingredient before picking the one that he is happy selling to his customers
- Some tong sui are meant to have health benefits – a soup at Luk Lam Dessert is said to help alleviate joint pain caused by arthritis and improve sleep quality
In Hong Kong, no big meal feels complete without a bowl of red bean sweet soup.
Served hot in the winter and lukewarm when the weather turns mild, tong sui – “sweet water” – dessert soups made with ingredients such as red bean, black sesame and peanut paste are popular with people all year round.
“We cling to traditional flavours, trying to replicate versions imprinted in the memories of many local elderly people,” says Chiu Wing-keng, whose father founded the shop more than 40 years ago.
Their most popular desserts are classics, including ginkgo and barley with dried bean curd sheets; peanut, glutinous rice and pearl barley sweet congee; red bean sweet soup with lotus seeds; and sugar-stewed papaya soup.
“The first two in that quartet have been on our menu since we opened in 1979,” Chiu says.
