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This sweet Chinese black sesame soup (芝麻糊) recipe only needs 5 key ingredients. It is a popular sweet soup commonly served after a main meal. Enjoy its earthy, nutty, and sweet flavors while reaping its nutritional benefits.

What Is Chinese Black Sesame Soup?

Black sesame soup also called Zhi Ma Hu is a type of Chinese sweet soup dessert best served at the end of a meal. It has a thick and creamy consistency with a nutty aroma.

To make my black sesame soup recipe, you need toasted black sesame seeds, peanuts, glutinous rice, water, pitted red dates, and rock sugar. All the ingredients are blended with a blender until you have a smooth consistency. The soup can be garnished with osmanthus or osmanthus syrup for additional fragrance and a sweet taste.

The toasted black sesame seeds and peanuts give the soup nutty and earthy flavors, while the glutinous rice and pitted red dates add a lovely sweet and caramel-like taste. When blended together, the glutinous rice helps create the soup’s thick and smooth texture. It is the perfect soup for those looking to enjoy animal-free and gluten-free soup.

Plus, it is highly nutritious and has proven to be beneficial to the body. It helps reduce oxidative stress and promote heart health. On top of that, it boosts energy levels, brain health, mood, and skin health, to name a few of its benefits.

How To Serve Chinese Black Sesame Soup

Unlike soups that are eaten at the start of a meal, this soup is served at the end of a meal since it is considered a sweet soup dessert. Not only is it a great way to cap off a meal, but it can also be served on its own as a sweet snack. It can be eaten at room temperature or hot after heating it in a pan.

Where To Buy Black Sesame?

Sesame seeds are usually found in the spice section of a grocery store. If it’s not in the spice section, try looking at the international or Asian section. Alternatively, you can buy sesame seeds at online grocery stores like Amazon.

Black sesame is available in whole or powder form. If you have whole raw black sesame seeds, you can toast and grind them with a blender to make a powder form. Sometimes, you can buy black sesame in powder form and instantly make a soup by just adding hot boiling water.

Tips To Make Chinese Black Sesame Soup

All ingredients can be substituted with their best alternative. If you are thinking of altering some of the ingredients for this recipe, I have listed some suggestions to consider. Here are some tips when making Chinese black sesame soup:

Black sesame: I used whole toasted black sesame seeds for the recipe. If you are using raw, it is best to toast them for about 10 minutes in a skillet on medium-low heat. It should crackle and sizzle when you are toasting the seeds. Remember, do not toast too much, or it will taste bitter. Black sesame powder is also a great alternative that no longer requires grinding.
Peanuts: Peanuts add protein and a pea-like taste. You can use raw or roasted peanuts to have a more natural taste. However, it is perfectly fine to use salted peanuts without overpowering the overall taste of the soup.
Glutinous Rice: Glutinous rice is short-grained rice also known as sticky rice, sweet rice, or waxy rice. It generally becomes sticky when cooked and is commonly used for mochi rice cakes, sticky rice dumplings, and other sweets. This helps make the soup thick and creamy. If you don’t have glutinous rice, you can use rice flour instead. Rice flour is a staple Asian ingredient made from long-grain rice that can help thicken the soup. Although it is also possible to make the soup without glutinous rice or rice flour, the soup will not thicken and will be lighter and thinner instead.
Pitted Red Dates: Pitted red dates are also called Chinese dates or jujubes that have a similar taste and texture to an apple. It is sweet and has a caramel-like taste. You can buy dates in pitted or unpitted form, but I recommend pitted so you don’t have to worry about seeds. To substitute red dates, you can use dried fruits such as prunes, cherries, raisins, or cranberries.
Rock Sugar: If you want to make the soup even sweeter, you can add rock sugar and adjust the amount according to your desired sweetness. Rock sugar is less sweet than table sugar since it is made from water and sugar. It can be swapped with other types of sugar, such as white sugar, brown sugar, coconut sugar, or muscovado.

What You Need To Make Chinese Black Sesame Soup

Making this soup is easy as long as you have a blender to grind all ingredients together.

I’m using a blender with a heating function to prepare the black sesame soup. For those using blenders or food processors without this feature, you can transfer the mixture to a saucepan or pot, bring it to a boil, and that’s all you need to do.

Prepare all the ingredients you need and choose your favorite serving cup or bowl.

Kitchen Tools

Blender or food processor
Serving cup or bowl

Ingredients

60g cooked black sesame
15g peanuts
20g glutinous rice
500ml water
4 pitted red dates
Osmanthus or osmanthus syrup (optional for garnish)

How To Make Chinese Black Sesame Soup

In a nutshell, all you need to do to make Chinese black sesame soup is blend everything together in a blender. If your blender has no heating function, transfer the mixture to a saucepan or pot, and bring it to a boil. Then, adjust the sweetness with rock sugar and garnish with osmanthus or osmanthus syrup. Check out how I did it with my reels on Instagram and Tiktok.

In a blender, add toasted black sesame seeds, peanuts, glutinous rice, water, and pitted red dates.

Blend the ingredients until you have a smooth consistency.

Then, add rock sugar and adjust according to your desired sweetness.

Blend the mixture again until the sugar dissolves.

Transfer the mixture to a saucepan or pot, bring it to a boil.

Pour the soup into a serving cup or bowl.

Lastly, garnish with osmanthus or osmanthus syrup.

Give it a good mix and enjoy the sweet soup.