This quick Black Sesame Dessert Soup is deeply nutty, sweet, creamy, warm, and comforting. It’s just what your body craves during seasonal changes. And it’s ready in just 15 minutes!
We’ll show you how to make a homemade instant powdered black sesame cereal that you can store for later. Simply add hot water and your favorite sweetener, like honey or jujube paste, and enjoy a warm bowl of goodness!
I know what you are thinking, eeeekkkk – it’s black and scary. That is exactly how I felt the first time I tried in a little dessert shop in Aberdeen, Hong Kong. This jet-black, pudding-like Cantonese dessert many not win any beauty contests, but it shines with its simplicity, health benefits, and heartwarming flavor.
In Asia, you can find premade packages called “black sesame cereal”, often enjoyed for breakfast or dessert. However, these store-bought versions have many artificial ingredients, are loaded with sugar, and are not gluten-free. While convenient, they inspired us to create a healthier homemade version.
Our black sesame soup uses just four ingredients: roasted black sesame seeds, sweet glutinous rice flour, a dash of salt and a touch of sweetener. It’s gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan if you substitute honey with your preferred sweetener.
We first created this recipe in March 2018 and have since updated it with helpful step-by-step hints and a video.
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Dessert Soup Ingredients and Substitutions
Black Sesame Seeds – We used organic raw black sesame seeds so we could demonstrate to you how to toast them in a dry pan. To save 5 minutes in time, use toasted black sesame seeds.
Sweet Glutinous Rice Flour – No, it's not sweet, nor does it have any gluten in it, despite its name. Please do not confuse this with regular rice flour as the black sesame soup recipe will not thicken. Glutinous recipe flour is dried finely ground glutinous rice like we used to make snow skin mooncakes. You can find this ingredient in Asian food markets or even on Amazon.
Salt – brings out the sweetness.
Raw Honey – or sweetener of choice such as maple syrup, date paste or sugar alternative. Traditionally, black sesame soup is made with rock sugar, but this is not suggested because you will not be cooking the soup on the stovetop but instead just adding hot water.
Hot Boiled Water – to make the dessert soup.
Step-By-Step: Quick Overview
- Toast raw black sesame seeds in a dry pan until toasty. (You can skip this step if you buy pre-toasted sesame seeds.)
- Roast Sweet glutinous rice flour in a dry pan until it turns from a snowy white to a beige.
- Grind toasted black sesame seeds in a high food processor into a fine powder.
- Add the roasted sweet glutinous rice flour to the food processor and a dash of salt and blend.
- Congratulations! You have now made homemade instant black sesame dessert powder that can be stored for later use.
- Time to make the sweet dessert soup (tong sui)! Add 4 tablespoons of the homemade instant black sesame dessert powder into a small bowl.
- Add honey or sweetener of choice.
- Pour in approximately 4 tablespoons of hot boiled water and stir until thick, smooth, and creamy like a pudding.
Recipe Hacks
- It’s best to weigh ingredients instead of using measurement cups for the best accuracy. We have also included the ingredients in US measurement cups for those of you that do not have a kitchen scale.
- Buy pre-toasted black sesame seeds and save 5 minutes of roasting time.
- Don’t over blend the sesame seeds, until the oil starts to come out, or you will end up with black sesame paste. Your goal is a fine powder.
- Stop the food processor a couple of times to push down the seeds with a spoon or spatula so they are all ground finely.
- Toast the sweet glutinous rice flour until it turns a beige color. Cooking the flour in a dry pan removes the raw flour taste and makes it taste nutty and delicious.
- Did you know that adding type of sweetener to the black sesame soup can thin the texture of the soup? More on that later.
Best ratio for black sesame soup powder to water is approximately 4 tablespoons of black sesame cereal powder to 4 tablespoons hot boiled water. This will result in a thick pudding like texture. If you like your soup thicker, add less water. Want it thinner? Add more hot water.
How to Serve?
We like black sesame soup served piping hot with a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds. You may also like to top with glutinous rice balls, goji berries, jujubes (Chinese red dates). Perfect dessert for the end of a Cantonese Meal, for a warm and cozy breakfast or even a midday snack.
What to Serve with Dessert Soup (Tong Sui)?
- Cup of hot tea is a must. During the change of seasons, we love pu-erh tea.
- Fresh fruit and/or a few pastries like sesame spiral pie cookies are delicious together.
- Salted walnuts or air fryer roasted chestnuts add a delicious contrast to the sweet black sesame dessert soup.
Frequent Asked Questions
Powdered Black Sesame Cereal can be stored for up to 2-3 months in an airtight container in a cool dry place. It can last longer if refrigerated.
As with any seeds or nuts you need to be cognizant of expiration dates of sesame seeds, as they can go rancid and they do have a shelf life.
Raw sesame seeds need to be consumed within 6 months. However, if you toast your sesame seeds they can last up to a year. If you store them in the refrigerator or freezer they can last a little longer.
Once you have added the hot water and sweetener to the dried powdered black sesame cereal mixture, it can be stored in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. We do not recommend freezing it because of the texture changes.
To reheat, place dessert soup in a pan on over medium high heat for a couple of minutes until bubbly and toasty warm. If the soup is too thin, add more of the dried powdered black sesame cereal mixture. However, if the soup is too thick add a small amount of water until it reaches your desired consistency.
Honey and most sweeteners like granulated sugar can cause black sesame soup to thin out after its addition. Honey pulls moisture from the other ingredients, which can thin out the black sesame soup’s texture. In addition, honey can disrupt the starch in glutinous rice flour that is used to thicken the soup. (1)
Most all sweeteners, even granulated or rock sugar, can cause thinning of the dessert’s soup texture. Therefore, we suggest you add the sweetener first and then slowly add the hot water while stirring to get to your preferred texture.
Black sesame seeds (Hei Zhi Ma) may have many health benefits according to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).
1. Black sesame seeds have a neutral energy. They serve to nourish the yin by moisturizing and cooling the body. This helps balance the yin and yang, especially as we grow older.
2. Promotes hair growth and reduce grey hairs. (2)
3. Nourishes and fortifies the liver and kidney yin to keep the body in balance. 4. If eaten in moderation, sesame seeds may help to lubricate the large intestine to prevent constipation.
5. Nourishes your vital essence (jing) and blood. We are all born with a basic amount of vital essence but as we age it starts to deplete.
More Black Sesame Seed Desserts
Quick Black Sesame Dessert Soup
Equipment
- food processor or high powered blender
Ingredients
- 1 cup Black sesame seeds packed lightly (150 grams)
- ¾ cup Glutinous Rice Flour
80 grams - ½ teaspoon Salt
- 4 tablespoons Hot boiling water or more for your desired soup consistency for each 4 tablespoons of prepared dried black sesame cereal powder.
- 1 teaspoon Honey
or to taste for each serving (if want to make vegan then use maple syrup, date paste or sugar alternative of choice) - Garnishes optional (black sesame seeds, white sesame seeds- optional, cooked glutinous rice balls)
Instructions
Homemade Powdered Black Sesame Soup Mix
- Toast black sesame seeds in a dry pan for about 5 minutes over a medium low heat until toasty and aromatic. Set aside to cool. (if your black sesame seeds are already toasted move on to the second step)
- Toast your glutinous rice flour in the same dry pan just until starts to get a little golden color and smells toasty - about 2 minutes. Set aside to cool.
- Place your toasted sesame seeds in the food processor and blend until a smooth powder. Add your toasted glutinous rice flour and salt and combine well.
- Store your dried prepared instant black sesame cereal powder in a sealed container or enjoy as a soup right away.
Black Sesame Dessert Soup
- To enjoy one or more servings of Hot Black Sesame Cereal, Boil water in a kettle.
- Place 4 tablespoons of the prepared powdered black sesame cereal from above in each bowl.
- Next, add your honey or sweetener of choice. (Please note that the addition of honey (or any type of sweetener) will thin the soup out a little more later. It's best to keep the dessert soup really thick and add more water later if needed.)
- Add one tablespoon at a time of water and stirring well to remove lumps until it is smooth and creamy. We like our cereal thick so we added 4 tablespoons of hot water for each 4 tablespoons of dried black sesame cereal powder.
- Taste and adjust your Hot Black Sesame Cereal for additional honey as required. If you like your cereal a little thinner, add more hot water. If you like your cereal a little thicker then add a little less hot water. Stir and enjoy!
- Garnish with white or black sesame seeds, Chinese red dates, or goji berries as desired. (optional) Makes approximately 1 and ¾ cup dry premade Black Sesame Cereal. There are 4 tablespoons in each dry serving. Total servings: 7 servings
Video
Notes
- Purchase your black sesame seeds already toasted to save you time.
- Please use glutinous rice flour (sweet rice flour) for the cereal/soup to thicken up. Regular rice flour will not make your soup thick but just a thin watery mess.
- Glutinous rice flour can be found in any good Asian market, whole foods store or even on Amazon.
- Toasting your glutinous rice flour in a dry pan adds an extra nutty delicious flavor to the cereal. The color will turn from a snowy white to a light beige color when it is done.
- We prefer to weigh ingredients. This will give you a more accurate amount. However, we have also included US measurements for your convenience.
Nutrition
Sources
- Babacan, Sibel, "Honey amylase and the effect in starch-containing foods" (2001). Open Access Dissertations. Paper 1732.
- Dandan Wang et al. (2018). Identification of Nutritional Components in Black Sesame Determined by Widely Targeted Metabolomics and Traditional Chinese Medicines. Molecules. 23, 1180; DOI:10.3390/molecules23051180.
Michelle says
One of my favorite classic Cantonese desserts! Love how cozy and warming it is on a cold night!
HWC Magazine says
Black sesame soup is our favorite Cantonese dessert too! It's just what you need during the change of seasons. Take Care
Hannah says
I need so much more black sesame in my life! This is just the ticket. It's both an indulgence and reasonably healthy choice. Who says you can't have it all? 😉
HWC Magazine says
We could not agree more Hannah! Black sesame soup is so comforting and nutty. It's hard to resist when you already have the powder prepared and it takes seconds to make.
Heidi says
This is such a yummy dessert and I love how quickly it comes together. Also, I really appreciated your tips for weighing the ingredients, instead of measuring them, and for using pre-toasted black sesame seeds! Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe!
HWC Magazine says
Thank you Heidi! We love quick and easy desserts and this one checks all the boxes. Weighing the ingredients is really the best way to go because everyone's methods of filling a cup differs greatly - not to mention that even cups around the world can vary in sizing. We can't wait for you to try a warm a cozy bowl of black sesame soup. Take Care
Raul says
I've seen this many times but never tried to make it.
It has a taste unlike what you expect