Sweet Almond Soup aka 杏仁糊 “hun yun wu”

Image 1: Sweet Almond Soup (杏仁糊 “hun yun wu”)

Food Synopsis: 杏仁糊 (“hun yun wu”) is a sweet, thick and hot 'soup'. It is made from almond meal (almond nuts ground into a powder), glutinous rice flour as a thickening agent, sugar to make it taste sweet and boiling water. It’s served in bowl and eaten/drunk with a spoon, so I guess that fits the criteria for being a ‘soup’. Even just a small bowl (~300ml) is very satiating and satisfies my constant craving for steaming hot food in this chilly weather!

I recall it being served to me as a snack or dessert when I was a kid, although I came across one website that suggested that it’d be a “nutritious breakfast”. English translation: ‘Sweet almond soup’.


It is said that Sweet Almond Soup is good for your skin...To give this traditional saying some scientific credit - Almonds, like many other nuts, are a good source in Vitamin E, a fat soluble vitamin that acts as an antioxidant for cell membranes. Oxidation is said to be the cause of aging, so antioxidants like Vitamin E can assist in slowing the aging process. e.g. wrinkles.

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I have extra almond meal at home, so thought I’d make use of it. First thing I thought of making was this Chinese dessert called 杏仁糊 (“hun yun wu”).  杏仁 (“hun yun”) meaning almond, and 糊(“wu”) meaning paste, though in this case this dish isn’t a paste, so it really just describes the viscosity of the liquid. Since it is winter at the moment, I thought this would be a great idea as a warm snack for the many cold days we’re getting.

When I set off searching for the recipe in Google search, I realised that I had no idea what to call it in English. Since I am usually much more capable of communicating in English than Chinese, I was somewhat surprised – I hadn’t had this problem since I was much younger, when my English vocab was so small that it was easier to express myself in the latter.

Nevertheless, being equipped with some common sense and Google-searching skills, I tried a few different combinations of words including ‘almond’, ‘paste’, ‘dessert’ and ‘Chinese’. From the results obtained, I think the most popular English translation for this dish is ‘Sweet almond soup’. Other names included ‘Almond dessert soup’, ‘Chinese nut soup’, ‘Chinese almond soup’…

The funny thing is that I would never have considered the word ‘soup’ to describe this food. Soup to me describes something savoury and broth-like. Although I recognise that Western-style soups like pumpkin soup and cream-of-some sort of vegetable soup are quite thick, I still wouldn’t consider杏仁糊 to be a ‘soup’.

I suppose this food is one example where the translation can never really match the original meaning.


Sweet Almond Soup Recipe

Ingredients
Makes: ~ 6 servings

• 1 cup almond meal (can make your own from freshly dry roasted almonds if you have a grinder)
• 2tb sugar (or less – brown or white doesn’t matter, would probably steer away from using icing sugar because it has cornflour which will make the soup even thicker)
• ¼ cup glutinous rice flour
• 1 tb milk powder (optional for creamier taste. Skim milk powder– healthier, full cream milk powder– creamier product)

Method

1. Put almond meal in a dry wok/fry pan. Use low heat to fry until aromatic, whilst constantly tossing. Almond meal can burn very quickly! When ready, set aside in a large bowl.
2. Fry glutinous rice flour in a clean and dry wok/fry pan on low heat until slightly blonde and very aromatic. Do not be impatient as it burns easily, especially when it is close to being ready. It can also stick to the wok and cause a really bad burnt smell to linger in the kitchen. When ready, add to the same bowl as the almond meal.
3. Add sugar and milk powder and mix all ingredients well.
4. Transfer to a dry, tightly sealed jar. Can be stored for up to 2 – 3 weeks.

To serve

1. Place 2 – 3 heaped tablespoons into a bowl/large mug with at least 300ml capacity
2. Add ~250ml boiling water and stir vigorously, using the sides of the bowl to smooth out lumps of powder. Make sure to use boiling water as the heat from the water is needed to cook the glutinous rice flour and hence form the thick consistency of the “soup”.
3. Serve immediately for instant gratification. Careful of burning your tongue though…

Image 2: Sweet almond soup powder

Image 3: Stir vigorously after adding boiling water. Use the sides of the bowl to smooth out lumps.