In the western world, soups are usually creamy, hearty and savoury, and most people eat them in cold weather. In my Cantonese household, though, soups fall into two categories: savoury or sweet.
If you’re wondering how a soup can be sweet like a dessert, keep reading.
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In Cantonese, dessert soup is called 糖水 (tong sui, or tang shui in Mandarin). In western cuisine, dessert is eaten at the end of a meal to cleanse the palate, or as a sweet treat like cake or pudding with afternoon tea. Chinese cuisine is pretty similar. The difference is that Cantonese tong sui is often nourishing as well as sweet. Many recipes draw on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) ideas, such as cooling the body in hot weather or soothing the throat.
The most popular tong sui at dessert shops in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Guangzhou are probably mango sago, soy beancurd pudding, and sesame or peanut paste. Chinese pear dessert soup is rarely on those menus, but it’s the best-kept secret in Cantonese households for beating the hot summer weather. Made with fresh pears, rock sugar and often snow fungus, this pear tong sui is light, gently sweet and refreshing, and it’s easy to make at home.
The Main Ingredient
The pear is definitely the star of this Chinese pear dessert soup. With so many types of pear, you may ask: which one should you use?
Many elders, my parents included, recommend snow pear (雪梨). It has a brown, sandy skin with a slightly rough texture. Once peeled, the flesh is pearly white, and a faint sweetness comes through as you cut into it.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), pear is considered a cooling food that helps relieve “heatiness” in the body. This heatiness is believed to build up from hot weather, lack of sleep or stress. That’s why Chinese pear soup is so popular in Southeast Asia, where the weather is hot all year round.
Snow pears can be hard to find in Singapore, even with our large Chinese population. In that case, any Asian or Chinese pear makes a good substitute, such as a Chinese fragrant pear (香梨), Korean pear or Ya pear. Just choose one that is sweet and firm, so it holds its shape in your pear tong sui.
Other ingredients
This Chinese pear dessert soup is very flexible. You can adjust the ingredients to suit what your body feels like it needs. For a snow fungus pear soup, add snow fungus and apricot kernels, a traditional choice when you have a dry throat or cough. Red dates and goji berries are often added for warmth and for tired eyes. Others like to add longan or lotus seeds. And if you’ve run out of ingredients or ideas, pears, rock sugar and water alone still make a lovely pear tong sui.
In this recipe, I added red dates and goji berries because I made it for my daughter and my husband, who both spend long hours in front of a screen. I also added a little rock sugar to sweeten the soup gently.
Why use rock sugar?
Rock sugar (also called crystal sugar) is used far more often in Chinese desserts than the white sugar most people stir into coffee. It has a milder, cleaner sweetness, and in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) it’s considered cooling and moistening. That’s why it’s traditionally paired with pears in a Chinese pear dessert soup to soothe a dry cough (without phlegm) or a sore throat.
If you can’t find rock sugar where you live, honey is a good substitute for regular sugar. It’s also a traditional remedy for the throat. If you use honey in your pear tong sui, let the soup cool slightly before stirring it in. Very high heat can dull honey’s delicate flavour and natural goodness.
Note: honey isn’t suitable for babies under 12 months.
Method
Can you make this in a blender or on the stove?
The stovetop method works very well if that’s all you have. But many Chinese soup recipes need a long, gentle simmer, which means watching the flame so the pot doesn’t dry out. On windy days, a low flame can even flicker out.
On a busy day, I use the Ninja Foodi Hot & Cold Blender (Model HB150) to make this Chinese pear dessert soup instead. I don’t have to stand guard over the fire. Its 1000-watt motor base is great for blending, and its 800-watt heating element lets you boil, cook and simmer at the press of a button. The 1.4L jar (hot liquid capacity) makes enough pear tong sui for 4 to 5 portions.
Step By Step Instructions
Mise En Place : Preparing all the ingredients as shown. Wash the pear, Goji Berry & Red Dates
Peel and cut the pear into small pieces
Cut Red Dates into smaller pieces. This allows the taste to emit out
Add everything into the jar of Ninja Foodie Hot & Cold Blender. Put the setting to cook, in High or Medium.
When the dessert is almost done, add in the sweetener. Adjust according to taste.
You can serve it hot. Or let it cool down to room temperature before putting into the fridge to serve cold.
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Chinese Pear Dessert Soup
Ingredients
- 1 piece Chinese/ Asian Pear
- 5-6 pieces Red Date
- 1 tbsp Goji Berry
- 1/2 tbsp Rock Sugar Adjust according to taste
- 700 ml water
Instructions
- Prepare and gather all ingredients.
- Wash all the ingredients except rock sugar. Peel and core the pear. Cut into bite size for easy serving when it's done. Remove the seed of the red dates if it's seeded. Cut into smaller size if it's already deseeded.
- Pour all the ingredients except rock sugar into the Ninja Foodi Hot & Cold Blender. Press "Cook" and "Medium" function on the machine. Let the machine run for approximately 30 minutes
- Once the blender has run for 30 minutes, add in the rock sugar and let the blender run for another 10-15 minutes in order for the sugar to melt in thoroughly.
- Serve it immediately. If you want it cold, open the lid for 30 minutes to an hour before serving with ice. Alternatively, put it in the fridge after its cooled to room temperature.
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