Red bean soup

China

In China, Hong Dou Tang (紅豆汤, pinyin: hóng dòu tāng) is a popular dish. It is categorized as a tang shui糖水, (pinyin: táng shǔi) (literally translated as sugar water), or sweet soup. It is often served cold during the summer, and hot in the winter. Leftover red bean soup can also be frozen to make ice pops and is a popular dessert.

In Cantonese cuisine, a red bean soup made from rock sugar, sun-dried tangerine peels, and lotus seeds is commonly served as a dessert at the end of a restaurant or banquet meal. Common variations include the addition of ingredients such as sago (西米, pinyin: xī mi), tapioca, coconut milk, ice cream, glutinous rice balls, or purple rice. The two types of sugar used interchangeably are rock sugar and sliced sugar (片糖).

Japan

Shiruko (汁粉), or oshiruko (お汁粉) with the honorific "o" (お), is a traditional Japanese dessert. It is a sweet porridge of azuki beans boiled and crushed, served in a bowl with mochi. There are different styles of shiruko, such as shiruko with chestnuts, or with glutinous rice flour dumplings instead of mochi.

There are two types of shiruko based on different methods of cooking azuki beans. Azuki beans may be turned into paste, crushed without keeping their original shape, or a mix of paste and roughly crushed beans. There is a similar dish, zenzai (善哉、ぜんざい), which is made from condensed paste with heat and is less watery than shiruko, like making jam or marmalade. In Western Japan, Zenzai refers to a type of shiruko made from a mixture of paste and crushed beans. In Okinawa, the term "zenzai" commonly refers to this bean soup served over shaved ice with "mochi". Other toppings, such as sweetened condensed milk, are occasionally added for flavor.

It is loved by many Japanese, especially during the winter. The half-melted sticky mochi and the sweet, warm red bean porridge is enjoyed by many. Shiruko is frequently served with a side dish of something sour or salty, such as umeboshi or shiokombu to refresh the palate as shiruko is so sweet that the taste may cloy after a while.

In Tottori Prefecture and Shimane Prefecture, shiruko is also used for zōni, the special soup for New Year celebration.

Korea

In Korea, similar dish called patjuk (팥죽; "red bean porridge") is enjoyed as a winter food. It is a type of juk (Korean porridge) made of red beans and rice. Saealsim (새알심; "bird's egg"), small rice cake balls made of glutinous rice flour is often added to the dish. Patjuk is often eaten as a meal rather than as a dessert, and by default is not sweetened.

Sweetened version of the porridge is called dan-patjuk (단팥죽; "sweet red bean porridge"), and is eaten as dessert. Glutinous rice powder instead of rice grains is added to the dish, and the porridge is sweetened with honey or sugar. Saealsim is often added to dan-patjuk.

Patjuk is commonly eaten during the winter season, and is associated to dongji (winter solstice), as people used to believe that the red color of patjuk drives off baneful spirits. In the past, dongji-patjuk was often offered to various household deities such as kitchen god. The porridge was also smeared on the walls or doors, or a bowl was placed in each room of the house.

Vietnam

Vietnamese cuisine also has a similar dish, called chè đậu đỏ. It contains added coconut milk and sugar. It is served cold.