**Classic Cantonese Red Bean Sweet Soup**

The process of making classic Cantonese red bean sweet soup begins by cooking the beans for one hour at first, and then checking on them an hour later to see if they have broken down relatively well. The heat is then shut off, and some of the beans are taken out with a fine mesh strainer to mash it for a smoother texture. This step depends on how chunky you want your final soup to be, and if you like things to be very chunky, you can just skip this step.

The mashed beans are then scooped into the strainer and some of the liquid is poured over to rinse out the shells, repeating until only the shells are left, and they are discarded. After finishing mashing the beans, the heat is turned back on medium low, and it simmers for another half an hour. Half an hour later, the soup should be obviously thickened, and twenty grams of rock sugar is added in, stirred to dissolve. The heat is then turned off, and the red bean sweet soup is done!

This classic Cantonese sweet soup can be enjoyed on its own or used as a base for add-ins such as sago, mochi balls, or even just a simple drizzle of coconut milk.

**Water Chestnut Drink with Egg Drops**

Next up is a quick and simple water chestnut drink, also known as "ma tai song". Water chestnuts are a common ingredient in Cantonese Tong Sui and desserts because of its natural sweetness. And some of the classics include this pure water chestnut drink or one with egg drops.

To make the water chestnut drink with egg, we need to prep a couple of ingredients first. Eight water chestnuts are needed for two servings, peeled clean and rinsed, then cut into small pieces, while four others are smashed and given a rough chop for some chunkier texture. A thickening agent is also required, which in this case is water chestnut starch.

Two tablespoons of water chestnut starch are mixed with two tablespoons of water, stirred well, and set aside. Then, to a pot of two cups water, it is brought to a boil, followed by switching the heat to medium and adding twenty grams of rock sugar. Stirred to dissolve, then add in the water chestnut pieces. Bring it to a boil, and let it cook for about one minute.

Meanwhile, an egg is whisked and set aside. One minute later, the water chestnut slurry is slowly added into the soup, stirring constantly until all added in, and the soup's thickened. Then, half an egg is stirred and poured into the soup, and heated off. And now, the egg drop water chestnut drink is done!

This water chestnut drink can be enjoyed right away as it is or served cold for a more refreshing feeling.

**Exploring More Cantonese Tong Sui**

In conclusion, today we introduced three classic Cantonese Tong Sui recipes, but there's just so much to this whole universe of sweet soups and light delicate desserts. We will definitely explore more of these kind of sweet soups with micro-regional characteristics in the future because I'm deeply in love with those and want to show you how awesome they all are.

So, right! Check out the recipe in the description box, a big thank you for everyone that's supporting us on Patreon, and of course, subscribe for more Chinese cooking videos.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enSo, this is Tongsui sweet soup, it’s basically a cultural institution here in Guandong.  It’s a combination of a snack, a small meal, a refreshment, a drink, and finally, a dessert. It  can be a treat that you enjoy on your way back from school, or a little “pick-me-up” you have  during the long working hours at the office, or a quick nourishment you grab late in the evening.It’s mostly presented in the form of soup, and on the confusingly long array of items at tongsui  shop’s menu, you will see ingredients like grains, beans, nuts, fruits, herbs, eggs, dairy, etc.And this tongsui culture? It doesn’t just stop in the Cantonese food world.  From costal China, to Vietnam, to Thailand, even throughout southeast Asia, this form of light and  delicate sweet soup can be seen as che in Vietnam, or nam kang sai or gaeng buad in Thailand,  or samalamig or ginataan in the Philippines. And they all carry similar traits: light,  delicate, refreshing, and nourishing.That said, in my personal experience? I’ve met a number of Westerners that haven’t really quite  ‘gotten’ the idea of Tongsui. Well, I mean, I love Western desserts too, and I LOVE  a sinful piece of cheesecake. But to be honest, after a long,  filling big meal, one of the last things I’d want is probably a big piece of filling cake.  On the other hand, a small bowl of light sweet soup is what I’d personally prefer.So today, we want to show you three classic Cantonese tongsui sweet soups – first,  a homestyle sweet potato and ginger soup;  second, a smooth red bean soup; and lastly a sweet water chestnut egg drop drink to round things out.  With the possible exception of red bean which does take a little bit of prep,  these three soups are a fantastic and delicious way to have a quick snack or round out a meal.So first thing’s first, sweet potato. This is such a classic that you can always get at tongsui  shops, and because it’s also so ridiculously easy, everybody would just make it at home too. So here we have two medium-size sweet potato, about 250g and we’ll be looking for  about 200g-ish after peeling, 100g per serving.So just peel it like this, basically peel till  you reveal the slightly deeper color flesh for a better texture. After peeling, cut off both ends,  then with a cut and crack motion, break it into about 1-inch chunks, then set aside. Next, we can start cooking. To a dry pot without any water or oil, toast a one-inch knob of smashed  ginger for about 1 minute, then toss in the sweet potato chunks, give it a quick toast together with  the ginger, about 2 minutes. Then add in 3 cups water, cover, bring it to a boil and turn the heat  to the lowest once it’s boiling.Let it cook for 20 minutes,  and 20 minutes later, come back to check the doneness of the sweet potato.  Just take one piece, when you can easily break it up with a chopstick, then it means it’s done. Before seasoning, a quick note on sugar. Cantonese tongsui usually uses slab sugar or rock sugar.  For slab sugar, you should be able to find them at Mexican groceries under the name jaggery,  I believe that’s how it’s pronounced. If you can’t find it,  you can sub slab sugar with dark brown sugar. Meanwhile for rock sugar,  it’s something between light brown sugar and white sugar. So you can sub it with  light brown sugar, or use white granulated sugar if you don’t want to affect the color. So back to our soup, just toss in 20g dark brown sugar, gently stir to dissolve. And now,  your sweet potato tongsui is done.In colder days, I also like to toss  in a small bag of mulled spice for a warmer flavor, and I’ve really been enjoying that.Alright, with the easiest one sorted, let’s move onto the one that needs a bit more prep, red bean  soup. So red bean soup is a something that you can see around Yangtze River Delta, or even further  in Korean and Japan. But what makes this one uniquely Cantonese is the dry aged tangerine peel  and that deep citrusy afternote it gives.So to make red bean soup, you’ll need red beans.  Here’s 100g red bean for two servings. First, give it a rinse and soak it for 12 or even 24  hours. Because red bean is such a pain to cook, now after soaking, we’ll strain it and put it in  the freezer, and let it turn into freezing beans.The reason I do this is that, after the water  within the beans turn into ice, it would be volumized and expand the inside of the beans,  which will shorten the cooking time. And of course, you can always just soak more beans,  keep it in a bag and freeze it, and use it whenever you need. After the beans are frozen, take it out and dump in some hot water to thaw. In the meantime,  we can quickly prep our aged tangerine peel. This is a piece of five grams worth of peel…  soak it in cool water for half an hour, then take a paring knife and scrape off the white pith  so that it wouldn’t impart bitterness to the soup. And next, finely mince it, and set aside. Now we can start cooking. To a big pot, add in five cups of water together with the tangerine  peel and bring it to a boil. Once it’s at a boil, add in the beans. When it’s  back to a boil, turn the heat to medium low, skim if you want… then crack the lid like this  to prevent overflowing, and let it cook for one hour at first. One hour later, come back  and check on it. The beans should be broken down relatively well… now, shut off the heat,  take out some beans with a fine mesh strainer, and we’ll mash it for a smoother texture. This step depends on how chunky you want your final soup to be. Personally, I like to mash about  80% of my beans for a very smooth texture… but if you like things to be very chunky, you can just  skip this step. Just use a spoon to mash the beans in the strainer, scoop some of the liquid over to  rinse out the mashed beans, repeat until you only got the shells left, and just discard the shells.  Now after finishing mashing your beans, we can turn the heat back on medium low,  and let it simmer for another half an hour. Half an hour later,  you soup should be obviously thickened. Then add in twenty gram to thirty grams of rock sugar,  stir to dissolve. And then, heat off, your red bean sweet soup is done!  This is great on its own, and it can be a great base for add ins like sago, mochi balls,  or even just a simple drizzle of coconut milk.Lastly, a quick and simple water chestnut drink.  So water chestnut is a common ingredient in Cantonese Tong Sui and desserts because  of its natural sweetness. And some of the classics include a pure water chestnut drink,  a.k.a. “ma tai song”, or a water chestnut drink with egg drops in, a.k.a. “bing fa ma tai lou”, or  one of my favorites around the Zhanjiang area, which is a combination of water chestnuts,  sweet corn, and cassava balls, and today we’ll be making the one with egg. So before we begin, let’s quickly prep a couple ingredients. Here are eight water chestnuts for  two servings. Just peel it clean, and give it a rinse. Then, cut four into small pieces… and  smash the other four and give it a rough chop for some chunkier texture. As for a thickening agent,  we’ll be using water chestnut starch. Just take two tablespoons of water chestnut starch, mix  it with two tablespoons of water, stir well, and make sure everything’s smooth. Then, set aside. Now we can cook. To a pot of two cups water, bring it to a boil. Once it’s boiling, switch your heat  to medium and add it twenty grams of rock sugar. Stir to dissolve the sugar, then add in the water  chestnut pieces. Bring it to a boil, and let it cook for about one minute… meanwhile whisk an egg  and set aside. One minute later, take the water chestnut slurry then slowly add that into the  soup. Keep stirring as you go, then once it’s all added in, and the soup’s thickened… use the stir  and pour method and add in half an egg. And then, heat off. And now your egg drop water chestnut  drink is done! You can have it right now as it is, or serve it cold for a more refreshing feeling. So we introduced three classic Cantonese Tong Sui today, but there is just so much to this  whole universe of sweet soups and light delicate desserts… and in the future we will definitely  explore more of these kind of sweet soups with micro-regional characteristics because I’m,  like, deeply in love with those and want to show you how awesome they all  are. So right! Check out the recipe in the description box, a big thank you for  everyone that’s supporting us on Patreon, and of course, subscribe for more Chinese cooking videos.\n"