Sweet Potato & Ginger Dessert Soup
This is one of those traditional Chinese desserts where you either know about it or you don’t. You will often find it featured in the menu at Hong Kong dessert places, like Monga. To the uninitiated, it’s probably a rather odd concept, a watery sweet soup as a dessert dish. But I grew up knowing this soup and enjoy its cleansing nature.
My family isn’t Cantonese, so this soup did not feature that often in my home. When mom did cook it, I remember liking its strong gingery bite and the delicate earthy sweetness of the potato. I think the best part about this dish is the sweet-spicy fragrance that wafts in your home when it’s being simmered.
I’d forgotten all about this dish until early 2010, I’d migrated to Melbourne by then and was living alone. I was stricken with a horrid bout of flu one weekend. By instinct, I just wanted to taste this soup again. I dug this soup out of memory and tried to recreate it.
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It isn’t rocket science, I think some of these dishes do so much better when you don’t quantify things. In Singapore, we call it ‘agar-ration‘, the art of completely guesstimating something. In this case, a recipe. This is also one of those dishes where I found no need to search for recipes online or through books to recreate.
Hawker centres in Singapore might serve this soup with gingko nuts or lotus seeds in it. For this dish, mum and I prefer it to be plain with just the sweet potato. Sometimes, simple tastes better.
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Normally, orange sweet potato is used, which imparts a delightful golden hue to the soup. But I used purple sweet potato this time round because they’re currently beautifully fragrant at the markets. I got mine from Little Saigon Market in Footscray. Love how the potatoes gave the soup a slightly purply tinge. And if my potatoes are sourced from an organic grocer, I won’t even peel them.
A word about ginger. Good Asian grocers normally stock two types, young and old ginger. The ginger in these photos are young ginger, they’re brighter and more juicy. Old ginger looks drier, more wrinkly and it’s usually twice as expensive, but they are better in quality and more potent.
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The recipe below is quantified so that you have a rough idea of proportions. Feel free to adjust at will. If you like your soup more spicy, use old ginger (or more ginger) and simmer just the ginger for 30 mins before adding everything else. Use of pandan (screwpine) leaves is optional, I understand they’re hard to find. They impart an added rounded fragrance to the soup. You can also use any other types of sugar if you don’t have rock sugar.
Sweet Potato & Ginger Sweet Soup
Serves 2
Simmer for 45-60 mins:
150g sweet potato (peeled & chopped)
A lump of ginger (thumb sized, crushed)
20g rock sugar
500ml water
During the last 15 mins, add:
1-2 pandan leaves, knotted
Add more sugar to taste if needed.
Serve hot.
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For more comforting home recipes, check out my Recipes Section.