Literally translated as “sugar water,” tong sui is a diverse and popular dessert throughout China, with the commonplace and affordable sweet potatoes providing one of the most popular bases for this sweet soup. A good concoction is light and breezy in texture but strong in flavour. You can boil the potato with ginger along with the rock sugar, although I personally hate ginger. You can also add black sesame dumplings should sago not be your first choice.
With thanks to Susan Sim of Ci Bei magazine for the recipe.
Sweet Potato with Ginseng Root Tong Sui
Ingredients
600g sweet potatoes
12 bowls of water
30g ginseng root
150g rock sugar
50g brown sugar
50g sago (soaked)
Boil the sweet potatoes and ginseng root for one hour over a slow fire. Add in the rock sugar and brown sugar and sago. Cook for a few minutes, stirring. Serve for a cold night.