Red bean soup

Red bean soup refers to a number of traditional Asian soups, all made with azuki beans.

China

In China, red bean soup is a popular dish. The soup is commonly thinner than the Japanese oshiruko version. It is categorized as a tong sui, (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.

It is one of the main desserts offered after Cantonese cuisine meals in restaurants at night. When served, it is plain most of the time. The fancier restaurants may offer red bean soup with sago (西米, pinyin: xī fàn). 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.^[1] It is a sweet porridge of azuki beans boiled and crushed, served in a bowl with mochi.^[1]^[2] 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 difference of cooking way of azuki beans. Azuki beans could be turned into paste, crushed without keeping its original shape, or paste and roughly crushed beans are mixed.^[2] 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. Zenzai also refers to a type of shiruko made from mixture of paste and crushed beans in some dialects, mostly in Western Japan.^[2] In Okinawa Prefecture, 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.^[2] The half-melted sticky mochi and the sweet, warm azuki bean porridge is thought by many to be an absolute delight. Shiruko is frequently served with a side dish of something sour or salty, such as umeboshi or shiokombu. This is because shiruko is so sweet that the taste gets tiring after a while, so the customer can refresh their palate with something sour or salty, such as shiokombu or umeboshi, or both.

In some regions including Kagawa Prefecture, shiruko is also used for zōni, the special soup for New Year celebration.

Korea

In Korean cuisine, red bean soup is called patjuk (팥죽), and is commonly eaten during the winter season. On donji nal, a Korean traditional holiday which falls on December 22, Korean people eat donji patjuk, which contains saealsim (새알심), a ball made from glutinous rice flour.

An old Korean tradition, Patjuk (red bean soup) has a mysterious power to drive evil spirits away^[3]. According to Korean traditional folk beliefs, the color “red” is a symbolic color of positive energy which can defeat negative energy. Cooking and eating Patjuk (red bean soup) is a ritual to prevent bad luck, epidemic disease, and comes from evil spirits^[4]. Before Korean people eat it and serve it their own house shrine, they scatter it all around the house like in the kitchen, storage house, gate, yard and so on^[5]. These customs have been handed down through Chinese mythological stories. According to Hyungchosesigi, there was a man named Gong Gong. He had a bad son, and after he died he became a god of epidemic disease. Because of his cruel temper, a lot of people were killed by epidemics. Trying to find a solution to prevent infectious diseases, they recalled the fact that the son of Gong Gong hated “red bean soup” when he was alive. Thus, people made red bean soup and scattered it all around the house. And then the epidemics disappeared.

Eating Patjuk (red bean soup) is a ritual for abundant harvests^[6]. Ancient Korea was an agrarian society, and a rich harvest has always been a pivotal issue for them. Koreans eat Patjuk (red bean soup) on Donggi(winter solstice), when the days start becoming longer than nights. When they make Patjuk (red bean soup) they add small dumplings which were made of rice as the same number as their age^[7]. By fully relaxing and eating nourishing health food, they wanted to have a preparation period before starting farming in the spring.

Patjuk (red bean soup) embodies a custom of conserving food^[8]. Koreans usually eat rice and side dishes. However, in the wintertime when Korean families didn’t have abundant grains such as, rice, wheat, barley and so on. Patjuk (red bean soup) was a complete meal in itself. It could be made of simple ingredients. For example, red beans, water, small grains of rice and also it requires no need extra side dishes. Thus, when people prepare some events in winter, Patjuk(red bean soup) is an economical food for conserving grain.

Vietnam

Australia

In Sydney, Australia as well as many other major cities in Australia, it is served as complimentary dessert along with fruit, pudding and sometimes cake and biscuits for no extra charge at most Cantonese restaurants.

Contents

China

Japan

Korea

Vietnam

Australia

See also

References

Notes