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Sweet potato ginger dessert soup, known in Chinese cuisine as 番薯糖水 (fan su tong sui), is a regular dish in my household when I was young. My mom worked at home most times, and she also had to cook and take care of me and my siblings, yet she’ll always make sure we have enough nutrition in our daily meals. One thing I learnt from her is always to use the shortest time to cook the most delicious and healthiest dishes. This dessert soup is one of them. It’s extremely easy, quick and simple to make, not to mention, the ingredients cost very little too.
What is tong sui 糖水
Tong sui (literally translated to sugar water in Cantonese) is a typical Cantonese after-dinner or nourishing dessert that families enjoyed together. More than just desserts and sweetness, tong sui is also about wellness, balance, and nourishment, particularly for the woman’s body.
To me it’s extremely easy to make, mostly getting the ingredients ready and rehydrating some of the dried ingredients. That said, some tong sui might need hours to brew so a bit of patience is much needed. Check out some of the tong sui on this website, such as Snow Fungus Peach Gum Dessert, Aiyu Jelly, Tang Yuan (glutinous rice balls), Bird’s Nest with Sweet Potato and Taro Balls, Tau Suan and many more.
Benefits of sweet potatoes
Fun fact: did you know there are around 4000 to 5000 different varieties of potatoes out there in this world? There are also over 7,000 distinct named sweet potato types, and hundreds of sweet potato varieties that can be divided into five basic types, according to the US Sweet Potato Council. Namly, orange skin with orange flesh, red skin with orange flesh, yellow skin with white flesh, purple skin with white flesh, purple skin with purple flesh. Each variety has its unique flavour and texture. Sweet potatoes should always be stored in a cool, dry and well ventilated place away from heat sources, and definitely not in the fridge.
Purple sweet potatoes are firmer, drier and starchier and gives a slightly more nutty and gentle earthy flavour, as well as a pretty rich purple colour. Orange sweet potatoes are soft, moist and gives a sweet honey test with a beautiful natural orange shade. Yellow sweet potatoes are less intense in terms of flavour compared to the purple and orange ones. They are slightly sweeter, and a little earthy in terms of flavour.
In terms of nutrition benefits, the orange and purple sweet potatoes especially, are rich in antioxidants that protect your body from free radicals, which are unstable molecules that can damage our bodies’ DNA and trigger inflammation. Sweet potatoes have a whole list of benefits including protecting our gut health, support healthy vision, may have cancer fighting properties, may enhance brain fuctions and support immune systems.
Sweet potatoes are highly versatile, and can be used to make into stews, curries, noodles, cakes, paste fillings, desserts, even mooncakes! Check out these recipes:
- Sweet Potato Ang Ku Kueh Mooncake with Red Bean Filling
- Sweet Potato Onde Onde
- Sweet Potato Kueh
- Pumpkin Ang Ku Kueh with Purple Sweet Potato Filling
- Bird’s Nest with Sweet Potato and Taro Balls
- Snow Skin Mooncake with Taro & Purple Sweet Potato
Tips for cooking sweet potato dessert soup
- I used the purple, orange and yellow sweet potatoes as I love the variety in the colours, textures and flavours i the dessert soup but you can always use one or two of them to make this soup. For the sweet potatoes, do select firm ones without any soft spots nor blemishes.
- Cut the sweet potatoes into equal bite-sized pieces. This ensures each piece cooks at the same rate.
- The sweet potatoes do not require a long cooking time. Approximately 15 minutes of gentle simmering, once you can poke through the sweet potatoes with a fork, it’s about done. Gentle simmering ensures the sweet potato pieces do not turn mashy and breaks apart easily.
- I used old ginger for its warming qualities and its sharp spicy flavour but feel free to use young ones too.
- Pandan leaves are added for that extra fragrance but it’s totally optional.
- I used rock sugar in this recipe as a sweetener but not too much as the sweet potatoes have a mild sweetness already. You can even add red dates if you desire and that acts as natural sweetener to the sweet soup.
- Cut the sweet potatoes just before you are ready to cook them, if not, they might oxidise and some parts might turn greyish.
- Some recipes call to soak the sweet potatoes for a while after cutting to remove the starch. I didn’t do it in this recipe and it’s perfectly fine.
- We always have this served warm but if you cook too much, you can chill it overnight, and it tastes just as delicious.
Ingredients
We only need five ingredients in this recipe!
- Sweet potatoes – I used the purple, orange and yellow sweet potatoes in this recipe but feel free to use just one or two of them.
- Pandan leaves – Crowned the ‘vanilla of the east’, pandan leaves are optional but they do give a natural aromatic fragrance that’s unmatched.
- Old ginger – With great nutritional benefits such as warming the body, improving digestion, calming an upset tummy, ginger also gives an extra spicy kick for the sweet soup base. Of course you can use young ginger if you can’t find old ones, young ginger will be slightly sweet and less spicy than the old ones.
- Rock sugar – To sweeten the soup, of course you can use white sugar, or brown sugar.
- Vegetable oil – Just a bit to sauté the ginger to release its aroma as the first step to cooking this dessert soup.
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Sweet Potato Ginger Dessert Soup 番薯糖水
Ingredients
- 1 purple sweet potato, mid sized, about 120g
- 1 orange sweet potato, mid sized, about 120g
- 1 yellow sweet potato, mid sized, about 120g
- 25 g rock sugar
- ¼ inch old ginger
- 800 ml water
- 5 fresh pandan leaves, washed and tied into a knot
- ½ tsp vegetable oil
Instructions
- Wash, peel and cut 1 purple sweet potato, 1 orange sweet potato, 1 yellow sweet potato into cubes, about 1 inch each or bite sized pieces.
- Wash, peel and slice 1/4 inch old ginger thinly. You will need about 5 slices.
- Warm 1/2 tsp vegetable oil in a pot over medium heat. Sauté the ginger slices until aromatic and slightly browned.
- Add sweet potatoes and briefly fry for 30 seconds.
- Add 5 fresh pandan leaves (tied into a knot) and 800 ml water to the pot. Bring the water to a boil over high heat. Note: Ensure there is enough water to cover the sweet potatoes. You can adjust the amount of water accordingly.
- Once the water boiled, reduce the heat to simmer for about 15 min until the sweet potatoes turn soft but not mashy.
- Add 25 g rock sugar and let it melt completely. Turn off the heat. Remove the ginger slices and pandan leaves.
- Serve warm or chilled.
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