Sweet pudding flavored with rich coconut milk and filled with tender red beans. Perfect way to celebrate the Chinese New Year with your families and friends!
Chinese New Year is coming up on the 28th. Are you celebrating CNY? If you are not sure what the story is behind CNY and how you can celebrate, here is a cute little video to tell you more about it:
This year, Bryan and I will keep it simple. The only thing I am doing is making this Coconut Red Bean Pudding 椰汁紅豆糕. This fits into the New Year’s celebration because red is the lucky color for Chinese. The pudding is a light pink color with red beans evenly distributed throughout. Also, the pronunciation for the word “pudding”(糕) in Cantonese is exactly the same as the word “high”(高) in Cantonese. Therefore, eating this pudding symbolizes achieving a higher and higher position in one’s career (步步高陞).
This recipe is from a family friend, Auntie Chiu. Auntie Chiu and my dad are long time friends. Growing up, we went to Auntie Chiu’s home every Chinese New Year. I have always enjoyed all the delicious snacks and treats that Auntie Chiu and her husband made. When I was brainstorming for a CNY recipe a couple months ago, Auntie Chiu’s pudding popped right into my mind.
This coconut red bean pudding is a cold sweet dish, kind of like jello. It’s flavored with coconut milk and sweet red beans. The pudding is soft and delicate in texture, but rich in flavors. You get the fragrant coconut flavors and nice bites from the sweet red beans. It can be made 1 week ahead of time. It’s the perfect sweet to share with your families and friends during CNY.
Do you remember last year a group of amazing food bloggers and I come together and did virtual Chinese New Year Cookie Party? We are taking this up a notch this year with not just cookies, but sweets too! We are calling it the “Sweet Lunar New Year Party”. Check out all these tasty CNY recipes!
Join us and tag your pictures on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
#SweetLunarNewYear for your CNY sweets (and #ChineseNewYearCookieParty for cookies)
Almond Orange Spiral Cookies by Butter & Type
Baked Coconut Walnut Sticky Rice Cake by Jeanette’s Healthy Living
Black Sesame Cream Puffs by Pink Wings
Black Sesame Shortbread Cookies by Little Sweet Baker
Candied Ginger (Mut Gung) by Plant Crush
Cashew Nut Cookies by Anncoo Journal
Cashew Nut Cookies by Roti n Rice
Chick Egg Tarts by Dessert Girl
Chinese Peanut Cookies by Wok & Skillet
Gluten-Free Chinese Almond Cookies by Grits & Chopsticks
Ice Cream Mooncakes by Brunch-n-Bites
Indonesian Honeycomb Cake (Bingka Ambon) by What To Cook Today
Korean Caramelized Sweet Potatoes (Goguma Mattang) by What Great Grandma Ate
Korean Tea Cookies (Dasik) by Kimchimari
Mini Peanut Puffs (Kok Chai) by Malaysian Chinese Kitchen
One Bite Pine Nut Cookies by Yummy Workshop
Orange Scented Sweet Red Bean by Lime and Cilantro
Pineapple Cookies (Nastar) by V for Veggy
Red Bean Soup by Nut Free Wok
Snow Fungus Soup by Vermilion Roots
Sweet Rice Balls with Peanut Butter (Tang Yuan) by Omnivore’s Cookbook
Sweet Sticky Cakes (Kuih Bakul) by Lisa’s Lemony Kitchen
Thousand Layer Cake (Lapis Legit) by Daily Cooking Quest
Three Color Dessert (Che Ba Mau) by The Viet Vegan
Vietnamese Steamed Rice Cakes by A Taste of Joy and Love
Year of the Rooster Mochi by Thirsty for Tea
Coconut Red Bean Pudding
Ingredients
- 2¼ cups water (divided into 1½ cups, ¼ cup and ½ cup, plus more for kettle)
- 165 grams rock sugar
- 3½ tablespoons pure water chestnut flour
- ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 200 ml canned coconut milk
- 60 ml canned evaporated milk
- Pinch of salt
Red Beans:
- 150 grams dried red beans (azuki beans)
- 150 grams rock sugar
Instructions
- The night before, rinse and wash the red beans. Place them in a large bowl. Add water till 2-inch above the beans. Soak overnight.
- Next day, choose your desire container(s). I used an 8x6 airtight glass container.
- Fill a kettle with water and bring to a boil. Turn to low heat and keep warm once boiling.
- Rinse the red beans under water again. Transfer to a medium pot. Add enough water till 1-inch above the beans. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, drain. Fill with the hot water in the kettle till 1-inch above the beans. Bring to a boil again over medium-high heat.
- Turn the heat to medium-low. Cook for 40 minutes, shaking the pot occasionally to move the beans around. Add the rock sugar and cook until melted. Cook the beans until they are soft inside and cooked through, about 2 – 15 more minutes. The water level should be just above the beans when finished, if needed, add more hot water during the cooking process.
- When finished, turn off the heat and cover the pot with a lid. Let them sit for 30 minutes. Separate the beans and liquid by draining through a sieve. Set aside.
- In another medium pot over medium heat, add 1½ cups water and the rock sugar. Cook until the sugar is melted. Add coconut milk, evaporated milk, ¾ cup reserved red bean water, and ¼ cup water. Bring to a boil.
- Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, add water chestnut flour and cornstarch. Add ½ cup water and whisk until smooth.
- Once the coconut milk mixture is boiling, reduce heat to low. Stir the mixture with a wood spoon or strong spatula. While stirring, slowly add the water chestnut mixture. Keep stirring until mix well and smooth. Cook until the mixture starts to bubble and boil. Gently stir in the cooked red beans and mix.
- Transfer the pudding to the prepared container(s). Smooth the surface. Let the pudding come to room temperature. Cover with a lid or plastic wrap. Cool in the fridge for at least 5 hours before serving.
Notes
- How to tell if red beans are done? Squeeze a bean with your thumb and index finger. If the bean can be smashed easily and there is no hard part left inside. It is done. Make sure to test a few beans as some can cook little slower. On the other hand, you also don't want the beans to be overcooked. They will break apart and turn into thick soup.
- Rock sugar can take up to 5 – 8 minutes to melt depends on sizes.
- For storage, the pudding can be kept for 7 – 10 days in the fridge.
- I recommend using one large container for the pudding. When ready to serve, slice and serve.
- The pudding is rich, so a small chunk or two will be plenty for 1 serving.
- Rock sugar, water chestnut flour, and dried red beans can be bought from Chinese supermarkets or Amazon (this, this, and this).
- My favorite coconut milk brand is Aroy-D, like this.
Thank you for taking your time and reading a long post!
Wish you a wonderful ROOSTER year! 雞年快樂!
Kung Hei Fat Choi! 恭喜發財!
May you be promoted to a higher and higher position in your career! 步步高陞!
*P.S. I want to thank Auntie Chiu for sharing her recipe and all the tips. Thank you!
This sounds so delicious! I’ve made water chestnut cake, but not with coconut milk and red beans – this sounds so much better. Happy year of the Rooster!
Thank you Jeanette. Happy New Year to you too! The texture of this pudding is more like a mango pudding. The water chestnut flour acts as a thickening agent in this recipe. 😉
Coconut and red bean are such a delicious combination. My family would love these, and they look so perfectly sliced! 🙂 Happy New Year!! 😉
They are really a good combo! Enjoy! Happy New Year to you and your family!
I need to get my hands on water chestnut flour to make this. Hope it’s easy to find. I’m a big fan of red bean and this looks like such a treat! Wishing you “bo bo gou sing”! 🙂
Thank you so much Christine! If you love red bean, you will really enjoy this! You should be able to find water chestnut flour in Chinatown or Chinese grocery stores, especially during this time of the year. Happy New Year!
I love anything with red beans. Hope I can find water chestnuts flour at my local Asian grocer :D.
Happy New Year to you and family 🙂
Thank you Lisa! If you have access to Chinese supermarkets, they should have it! Wish you all the best in the coming year!
These look sooo cute and I love the idea of combining coconut milk and red beans!!!
Thanks so much Marvellina! They are so good together! Excellent dessert or snack! 😉
Looks yummy! I will try the recipe with my family. Thanks for sharing as I prepare for the year of the rooster! ?
Hope you and your family love this as much as I do! Have a happy new year! 🙂
Gong Xi Fa Cai! This pudding is such a neat idea of using water chestnut flour 🙂
Thank you, Anita! Happy New Year! Gong Xi Fa Cai!
It’s my favourite when I go dim sum! Happy lunar new year!
Oh yea? I don’t see this often in the dim sum restaurants in LA. But at least, I can make it myself now. Wish you a wonderful year of rooster!
Happy new year! These look great — can’t wait to try!
Thanks Ann. Glad you like it! Happy New Year! 😉
WOW this red bean pudding looks pretty! One of my different desserts that I would love to try.
恭喜发财！
Thank you so much Ann! The most time consuming part is the red bean. The pudding itself is very easy to put together. Hope you will give this a try. 🙂 恭喜发财！
Happy upcoming Chinese New Year! I’m drooling over this because I remember there used to be a shop near where I lived that sold housemade fresh noodles and had a few desserts like these red bean puddings. I loved them so much. I’m sure your’s are so delicious. I have never heard of water chestnut flour…so interesting!!
You will love this! Water chestnut flour is usually used to make water chestnut cake. It doesn’t have much flavors. It is mainly used to thicken some kind of liquids. Let me know if you try this. Happy New Year to you and your family!
Oh yum! Love this pudding and it’s a perfect dessert after endless eating. Gong xi gong xi!
Happy New Year Linda! I love this for afternoon tea too! I had been eating it for the past week every day. 😛
This looks so good! Goodness knows I love red bean. And I love that play on words.
Haha! Thank you Gina! Hope you had a great new year! 🙂
Love the combination of red beans and coconut milk. I hope I can find chestnut flour here in Virginia. Definitely a must try recipe! Happy New Year Lokness
It’s a nice combination of flavors! Thank you Amy. Most Chinese grocery stores should carry water chestnut flour. If not, Amazon is your best bet. 😉
Thank you for this yummy recipe and for the product photos. I had no idea how chestnut flour looks like so this is very helpful. Happy new year!
Thank you very much! Yeah, I have a feeling that most people have no idea what some of the ingredients look like. Hope you had a wonderful new year!
Hi! I’ve made this recipe twice so far.
The first time I screwed it up a bit because I added the starch mixture too fast into the coconut milk mixture, causing the whole thing to seize. It was super lumpy and a mess, but it actually still tasted fine in the end.
The second time, I added the starch mixture slowly and it was beautifully smooth. I had the heat on low and kept stirring but I did start to notice that there were some clumps forming slowly. I decided to quickly pour the mixture into the pan before it all clumps up again. I noticed after I poured the mixture into the pan, the entire bottom of the pot was covered with red beans and the clumps of the mixture stuck there. I’m not sure why it started to clump up again. Any suggestions?
Hi Laura! I think the coconut milk mixture maybe too hot, so the starch cooked too quickly and clumped together. I would try to turn off the stove right before adding the corn starch mixture. Stir until it’s smooth. Then turn the heat back on low to cook until bubbling (keep stirring). Last, stir in the cooked red bean. Hope this helps!
Any idea how long to cook beans in an instant pot?
Hello, I’m sorry that I really have no idea. I’m not too familiar with instant pot.
Hello. I’m confused on step 3 of the directions. When does it come into play? The night before? What is the hot water for?
Sorry about the confusion. Other than step 1, all the other steps are for the next day. Step 3 and step 4 are related. The boiling water in the kettle is added to the red bean after they were boiled and drained. Hope this helps. I’ll update the recipe to make it more clear.
I know I’m like 3 years late but thank you so much for this recipe. This was my childhood favorite but I haven’t been able to find this dessert served in Chinese restaurants in a long time (and I live in a Chinese populated city!). Is it possible to use corn starch instead of the water chestnut flour?
Hi Bee, this is a family friend’s recipe. I haven’t tried using corn starch only before, so sorry that I can’t tell how it would turn out. If you tried it, I would love to hear how it goes. Since you live in a Chinese populated city, it shouldn’t be too hard to find some water chestnut flour. Hope you will like this pudding! ?