Description
A traditional Lanzhou snack. Peas are boiled for hours until they completely disintegrate into a sludge. The secret? They are boiled with 'Peng Hui' (natural plant ash lye)—the exact same alkaline water used to pull Lanzhou noodles. Seasoned sweet with jujubes and sugar into a pitch-black soup.
Restaurants serving Hui Dou Zi (Lanzhou Ash Bean Soup)
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On this site you can check dictionary details and, later, places to buy or eat related items.
The Recipe section below is a general reference, not a recipe from the listed shops.
Recipe
Ingredients
- Peas(Ma Wan Dou or black beans)
- Peng Hui(Edible lye/Baking soda)
- Dried jujubes
- Rock sugar
Instructions
- [Authentic Recipe & The Science of Magic]
- (Bean Prep) Wash and soak 'Ma Wan Dou' (a type of brown pea common in the Northwest) overnight in water.
- (The Magic of Peng Hui) In a pot, add the beans, massive water, and [a tiny pinch of Peng Hui (or edible lye/baking soda)]. The alkaline causes the bean skins to soften explosively, and the pigments react, turning the soup 'pitch black'.
- Add dried jujubes (Hong Zao) for natural sweetness and aroma.
- Simmer relentlessly on low heat for hours.
- Eventually, the bean skins rupture completely, the insides melt out, and the entire soup turns into a 'thick, sludgy paste resembling sweet red bean soup'.
- Finally, dump in massive rock sugar to sweeten.
- Serve piping hot, or chilled in summer.
Learn more Spice, substitutes, tips
Key spices
Intense bean depth extracted by lye、Jujube aroma
Substitutes at Japanese supermarkets
(Substitute with JP red beans and baking soda - similar to Oshiruko)
Pairing
Skewers (Kao Rou)(After salty/savory foods)
Trivia
[Trivia] 'Hui' means ash (alkaline) from burned plants. Applying 'Peng Hui'—the same ash that gives Lanzhou noodles their chew—to desserts to soften beans showcases the Lanzhou people's ultimate wisdom as alkaline masters.
Eating tips & etiquette
[Unique Eating] Drink it with a spoon. Very similar to Japanese 'Oshiruko' (sweet bean soup), but the action of the lye creates a unique 'faint, hot-spring-like mineral flavor' blended with the noble aroma of jujube, resulting in a profoundly deep taste.
Allergen
Soybeans