Sweet Red Bean aka Hoong Tau Sar

The 'tong sui' street in Ipoh, is popular among Malaysian Chinese for its hawkerfare and there are stalls which specialise in 'tong sui' like red bean, black glutinous rice, bean curd barley with gingko nuts, 'bubur cha-cha', egg tea and 'mak chook', just to name a few. Normally these are served with 'yau char kway' or other 'kuih-muih'.

Recipe for Sweet Red Bean

Ingredients :

• 300 gm Red Beans
• 3 pieces dried Tangerine peel
• 60 gm dried Longan
• 50 gm Sago Pearls
• 2.5 litres Water
• 150 gm Rock Sugar, according to taste.

Method :
1. Wash the red beans, dried longan and tangerine peel.
2. Put the red beans, 50 gm of rock sugar and 1 litre of water in a pressure cooker and cook for 1/2 an hour. When pressure is released, remove the cover and bring back to the boil.
3. Add in the balance 1.5 litres of water, tangerine peel and cook till the red beans are soft.
4. Meanwhile, soak the sago pearls in water for about 10 minutes, till double in size. Clean and discard the water.
5. Add in the remaining 100 gm of rock sugar, longan, sago pearls and keep stirring till the sugar has dissolved.
6. Can be served hot or cold.
Note :
For variation, you can also add in a handful of either the following :-
a) black glutinous rice
b) pak hup
c) lotus seeds, or
d) coarsely chopped water chestnuts, and to top it all, drizzle with a wee bit of coconut milk for that extra flavour.
If you like the dessert to be a bit thick, add less water, it's all a matter of personal preference, but I like it clear, hence the word 'Tong Sui'.