Red Bean Soup-红豆沙

Making Red Bean Soup is simple, everybody knows how to make it. You need red bean itself, water, sugar (rock sugar), boil it, and then, you have your red bean soup, or "hongdousha".
I have made this for friends in Penang, for friends in Kuala Lumpur before, and know colleagues/friends in Beijing too, and I did not hear any complaint that it was not good (ehm, ehm....!so basically it should be good). In actual fact, I receive many compliments for this (humbly speaking).
So, I can proudly say that I make good red bean soup.
Why is it that, although the ingredients seem to very simple, but there are some that tasted so delicious and tasty and some are not. Good 'hongdousha', I would say, are those, where the beans are soft and yet you still can chew them (the shape of bean is still quite intact), and the soup itself, not too tasty and when it enters the mouth, it has to be viscous enough that makes you want to have the second feeding, and next, and next, continuously without wanting to stop.
And we have to also consider whether we want to take it cold or hot, hence the sugar and water composition vary according to the temperature you want take the 'hongdousha'. (To make it smells better, basically, in Malaysia, we add Pandan leaves).

So what makes my 'Hongdousha' special? When we make it, we just don't mix everything into the slow cooker and set the timer, and then, wait for it to be fully cooked.
We have to choose good red beans for a start. And then rock sugar has to be mixed together and let it boil (we call this first boiling). And there has to be some stirring to make sure the sugar and beans mixed well, and the temperature is even through out. Next, depending on the people who are going to eat this (you should have an idea how they like it to be prepared), a little bit of brown sugar can be added or a spoon or two of raw honey can be added to have a better, improved mouth-feel, especially when you take it warm or hot.
And most importantly, we have make this using our heart (love). Cooking with heart always taste different, and I think this cannot be denied. A person who only uses his hands without his heart to cook, will not taste good, even if he or she uses the best ingredients in the world.
I used to joke with my friends back in Penang, that I have to boil it during the nite time, and have to wake up early in the morning for second boiling in order to have the right texture and mouth-feel when I 'serve' this to them during morning break.
So, now, you can understand that, making 'hongdousha' actually, is an art combined with love (that is why, you always say, mothers' cooking taste good! Of course, for sure, Grandmothers' cooking, uncles' cooking, aunties' cooking, fathers' cooking can taste good too, as long as you cook with your heart, it will taste good irrespective who cooks that).

Choong, Beijing 5.40PM