Sweet Red Bean Soup

Mandarin oranges, tangerines, or clementines are the most popular and abundant fruit during the Chinese New Year. The Cantonese pronunciation of this fruit is "kam" which sounds like gold and it is considered to be a symbol of wealth and prosperity. One would always bring an even number of mandarin oranges as a gift when visiting family and friends.

Some of the peels are often saved and dried for use in sweet desserts. The most popular is the delicious red bean soup with lotus seeds. The red beans used are those of the smaller variety. They are sometimes referred to as adzuki beans.

Glutinous rice (or sticky rice) is a type of short grain Asian rice that is especially sticky when cooked. It does not contain gluten as suggested by its name but rather, the "glutinous" actually refers to its stickiness. This rice comes in two varieties, white and black. The white variety is more popular and is often ground into flour and used in many sweet Asian desserts. The black variety is a separate strain and is not as easily available. The grains are unevenly colored and look like wild rice. When soaked, the water will turn a deep purple color. This rice is primarily used in sweet desserts.

My mom often cook her red bean soup with black sticky rice and coconut cream. She would boil the red beans and rice together with screwpine leaves, which gives a nice fragrant scent, to a rich, thick broth. The coconut cream is only added at the end or sometimes served as a side and added if desired. For this recipe, I used the clementine peel instead of the screwpine leaves and served the coconut cream as a side.

Ro-Ri's Sweet Red Bean Soup
1 cup red beans (adzuki beans), washed and soaked for 2 - 3 hours
¼ cup black glutinous rice (sweet rice), washed and drained
? cup sugar
2 - 3 slices dried clementine (tangerine) peel
6 cups water
½ cup coconut cream

Bring coconut cream to a gentle boil, add a pinch of salt. Turn off heat. Remove and let cool.

Put red beans, glutinous rice, clementine peel, and water in a medium size pot. Bring to boil, add sugar. Reduce heat and let simmer for about 1½ to 2 hours or until beans are soft. Stir every now and then to prevent beans from sticking to the base of pot. Add more water if necessary. Serve warm with coconut cream.