Sugar Water

That’s the literal translation of “tong shui” (Cantonese) or “tang shui” (Mandarin) – the Chinese term for sweet dessert soups. These sweet offerings, usually served piping hot, are very much an integral part of Chinese epicurean culture, especially for the Cantonese, for whom these are almost a requisite to end the meal with, or to have as a light supper before going to bed.

All sorts of things can be used in “sweet soups” – beans (red, green or many other varieties), barley, rolled wheat flakes, lotus seeds, gingko nuts, lotus root, sago, snow fungus, red dates, dried longan… and the list goes on and on.

Even ingredients that are not normally associated with dessert can be and are often used…

Like dried bean curd (fu juk), eggs, and quail eggs! Yes, really. Quail eggs. Hard boiled quail eggs at that. It really isn’t that weird to have eggs and/or hard boiled eggs in a sweet dessert. Honest. It tastes very normal actually – for us at least. It sounds weird, but it doesn’t taste weird. You’ll have to take my word for it.

This fu juk tang shui (dried bean curd skin sweet soup) is one of the favorites of my family. And for me, sometimes, when I just want something sweet for lunch, this is what I cook up. It is real quick and easy, and infinitely healthier and more nutritious than indulging in a large slab of cake or some other dessert. I get to satisfy my sweet craving, have a good amount of protein and be completely guilt free. Not bad for a humble dessert soup, eh?

The process is very straightforward and the ingredients simple; this doesn’t even really qualify as a recipe. But here goes…

All that is needed is some dried bean curd skin (I recently found, much to my delight, this Hong Kong-made brand – see above picture – at the market provision shop; and this sheet type of fu juk is especially well-suited for making tang shui with, compared to the regular dried bean curd stick – marvelously silky smooth and very delicate and tender), dried (or fresh, if you have some on hand) lotus seeds, fresh gingko nuts, pearl barley, fresh chicken eggs, and fresh quail eggs.

The only fiddly bits are the prepping of the gingko nuts and the quail eggs. The latter have to be hard boiled and then shelled. Not difficult; just a little time-consuming – if you are using large numbers of the eggs. Sometimes I just leave them out if I’m feeling lazy (see top picture). But I do so love quail eggs, and where possible always try to include a few in the soup.

You can buy vacuum packed ready-prepared gingko nuts at the supermarket, and these are super convenient. But I have almost always, the few times I’ve tried them, had unpleasant experiences with these – most of the time, they leave a rather nasty after-taste in the mouth, presumably from the preservatives or some other chemicals that are probably used in the processing of the gingkos. So, I prefer to use the fresh ones that come still in their shells. It is a lot more work to get these prepped, but I think taste-wise, it is worth the effort. The nuts can be prepared the day before, or even several days before, and kept in the fridge. So that cuts down a lot of the “on the day” fiddling.

The shells are very hard and tough; use a stone mortar and pestle to crack them open. Once the shells have been removed, the gingkos need to go into a pot of boiling water, to soften the skin, which can then be peeled off. Then, the laborious part of the process starts: each gingko has to be carefully slit open and the bitter inner stem removed. This is extremely bitter – you absolutely do not want to be biting into a gingko nut that still has some stem in it. So make sure each stem is cleanly removed. At this point, the gingko nuts can be stored in the fridge until they are ready to be used.

To make the bean curd dessert soup: bring a pot of water to a boil (use as much water as you need to create the amount of soup you want), and pop in the dried lotus seeds and pearl barley. These need a fairly lengthy cooking time. Leave them to simmer until the lotus seeds are nicely fork tender. Just as they become ready, return the soup to a rolling boil, add white rock sugar to taste, and simmer to dissolve the sugar.

While the lotus seeds and barley are cooking, in a separate pot, boil the prepped gingko nuts in a little simple syrup water (some white rock sugar with water) until tender. Drain and set aside. (I find that boiling the gingko nuts separately and then adding them to the main soup helps get rid of any last vestiges of bitterness that may be there.)

Once the lotus seeds are ready, add the drained gingkos to the lotus seed soup and bring it back to a rolling boil. Place the fu juk sheets into the soup. Watch the pot carefully at this point; these cook real quick (in a matter of a few minutes). Avoid over-cooking the fu juk, as they will disintegrate into mush. When the bean curd skin has turned from yellow to white in color, bring the soup back up to a strong rolling boil, pour in the raw chicken eggs, give a quick but gentle stir, and immediately turn off the flame. You really don’t want to overcook both the eggs (they should be soft and silken – not coarse, rubbery – strands in the soup) and the fu juk (which should be melt-in-the-mouth tender and silky smooth, yet not mushy). Continue to stir gently as the eggs finish cooking in the residual heat, to create lovely, elegant, elongated egg strands. Finally, drop in the hard boiled quail eggs (if using). Stir to mix. Dish into bowls, and serve.

Leftover soup can be kept in the fridge for a day or so. I actually enjoy eating this soup cold, straight from the fridge, more than I do hot - unconventional as this may be. And something that will, in all likelihood, have people of my grandmother’s generation nagging at me ad infinitum if they ever see it.

Chinese women believe that eating lots of bean curd will give a porcelain-smooth complexion. I suppose there is some truth in that; given that soy is supposedly redolent with phyto-estrogens. By the same token, it is believed that regularly eating this dessert soup during pregnancy will produce babies with smooth silken skin!

Beauty aside though, this sweet soup is wonderful soul food: warming and soothing; a very comforting and restorative bowl of sweetness. The past week alone, when I’ve been under tremendous work pressures, I’ve craved, made and eaten this soup three times! It’s a wonderfully reassuring thing to tuck into – light, refreshing and calming. Besides, aren’t gingko nuts supposed to be highly beneficial for the brain? A tasty way to bolster mental energy as I burnt the midnight oil this past week.

Ah! Sweet, sweet comfort food of home!

Copyright © 2004 Renee Kho. All Rights Reserved.
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