Having
a bowl of Chinese dessert as supper was a norm for me when I was a kid. Being
Cantonese, there was a staple of varieties that I could pick from -- sweet
potato soup, barley & bean curd skin soup, red bean soup etc.
Food
preparation would start almost immediately after dinner, for some dishes would
take hours to cook and simmer. However, I also have a soft spot for desserts
from other dialect groups. For these, I would wonder around the streets in
Chinatown, hopping from one dessert stall to another for my pick. There is one
particular dessert that was hard to come by, even today… Teochew style Sweet
Lotus Seed Soup.
Being
young and totally naïve about economics, I always wondered why it was so
scarce. As I grew up, I realized lotus seeds were considered an expensive item,
and in those days when the income of most people was meager, it would be considered
a luxury to have a full bowl of lotus seed as a meal.
In Singapore
today, people are much more affluent compared to the 60s, but somehow the
standard of food has gone in the opposite direction. So, it is back to my
kitchen whenever I have the urge to eat a bowl of Sweet Lotus Seed Paste.
Sweet Lotus Seed Soup
Dried
lotus seeds 300 g,
soaked and peeled
Water 1000 ml
Dried
lotus leaf 30 g
Castor
sugar 6 tbsp,
with 3 tbsp of water
Rock
sugar 160 g
Tapioca
flour 3 tbsp,
mixed with 6 tbsp of water
Method:
1. Boil lotus seeds in 600 ml of
water and dried lotus leaf for 5 minutes. Reduce the heat and simmer for
another 30 minutes. Remove lotus leaf and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, simmer castor sugar
and water until it caramelizes to a light golden brown hue; do not stir the
mixture before it caramelizes. Add the remaining water, rock sugar and let it
boil for 5 minutes.
3. Combine both mixtures and stir thoroughly.
4. Let it simmer for another 5
minutes. Add tapioca mixture gradually to the simmering lotus seed soup and
stir continually until it reaches the right consistency. The paste should be
slightly gluey and thick.
5. Serve it hot.
Note:
Dried lotus leaf can be replaced with fresh pandan leaves.
