Happy New Year everyone! I hope you can look back at 2012 with fondness at the good things that have happened, and learned from the not-so-good things that took place. Indeed we look forward to better things in 2013 - good health and safety, successes and achievements, more great recipes (mustn't forget that!) and for us Christians, a closer walk with Jesus.
Righto! I thought it would be nice symbolically to start my first post on the first day of this new year with something sweet - a classic Chinese sweet soup/"tong sui" with red dates, dried longan and seaweed.
You might ask - seaweed?
Yeah, think of it as a more cost effective alternative to bird nest ;P Beauty food really - packed with calcium and collagen. I recently did another post on using this white seaweed from East Malaysia - check it out here
Sweet Seaweed Soup with Red Dates and Longan
- 120g seaweed, rinsed weight (very small handful is sufficient, it will expand once soaked)
- 20 jumbo red dates, deseeded
- 1/2 cup dried longan, rinsed
- 200g rock cane sugar
- 1.8 litre filtered water
1. Soak the seaweed for about 3 hours, changing water 3-4 times until there is no briny or fishy smell. Snip into short pieces.
2. Bring the water to a boil, add in the red dates and longan and turn down to simmer for about 30min. Use the back of a ladle to flatten the red dates to release more flavour.
3. Add the cane sugar and simmer until it has completed melted.
4. Finally add the seaweed, bring to a quick boil and switch off the fire. Let the soup rest for about 15min before serving.
Happy New Year, Esther!
ReplyDeleteLove to have this sweet soup to start off the New Year day :)
Thanks Ann, happy new year to you :)
DeleteHi Esther, glad to have known you this year. Happy New Year to you and your family x
ReplyDeleteSama sama Yen :) see you around this year !
DeleteOh....I would loves to have one bowl now.....just loves dessert soup. So refreshing.
ReplyDeleteYea, tong sui is such a comforting and refreshing item.
DeleteSo refreshing and soothing. The longan adds a wonderful taste.
ReplyDeleteI love to add lots of longan,but my mum tells me it is "heaty" so i had to scale back haha
DeleteHI Esther! The seaweed looks like hashima! Always like a bowl of Tung Shui after a heavy Chinese dinner...
ReplyDeleteA sweet start to the new year!
Yea, it kinda look like suet kap doesn it? Bt honestly suet kap taste nicer hehe, but this has more calcium.
DeleteHI Esther,
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to you and your family! What a nice way to start the year, may it bring along lots of sweetness for this year :)
Hi Adeline, haha yes lets start the year on a sweet note :)
DeleteVery refreshing soup and seaweed is a surprising ingredient! Agree with Chef, it does look like what they call "frog saliva".
ReplyDeleteYea, kinda doesnt it? Thats one of the recommended recipe using the seaweed.
DeleteHi Esther, very nice, sweet and delicious for a good start to a new year.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kimmy!
DeleteEsther, this looks amazing, unlike anything I've ever seen. Do you eat it for dessert or as an appetizer or ........?
ReplyDeleteChris, yes we take the soup as a dessert :) its very light and nourishing, best taken warm.
DeleteYUM! I love tong sui. It's so light and refreshing but still satisfies my sweet tooth! Not sure what seaweed it is that you use, but I often do a variation using white fungus instead, but should taste almost exactly the same though!
ReplyDeleteExactly, light yet satisfy the sweet tooth. I use the white seaweed from East Malaysia. Can certainly sub with whitefungus too. Taste wise, both are actually tasteless, but texture is totally different.
DeleteThank you for this recipe!
ReplyDelete