Dessert of Lotus Seeds, Gingko Nuts, Dried Longan, Red Dates, Snow Fungus and Fox Nuts

 

This Chinese Dessert or commonly known as Tong Sui is my favorite dessert, serve either warm or cold.  As fresh Gingko Nuts are only available once a year, just before Chinese New Year, I will buy a kilo of it and slowly prep it, as it takes quite an effort to get it ready, store in the freezer and use it whenever I am preparing a bowl of nourishing Tong Sui.  The steps of prepping the Gingko Nuts can be obtain from my blog by clicking the link here.

This time round, I am cooking this Dessert/Tong Sui with all the available ingredients in my pantry: Lotus Seeds, Gingko Nuts, Dried Longan, Red Dates, Snow Fungus and Fox Nuts. As usual I will have the first bowl warm, and the rest of it cold, as whatever leftover will be put into the fridge.

Gingko nuts, yi yi ren, white fungus, dried longan and water chestnuts dessert

Who could resist a bowl of cold Chinese dessert on a hot weather??  Not for me as I need something as this to quench my thirst!  I will boil some extra, keep them in the fridge and enjoy this refreshing dessert any time of the day.

What you need:

• 1/2 cup gingko nuts (on how to prepare the gingko nuts click here)
• 1/4 cup yi yi ren (rinsed and soaked overnight)
• 2 bunch white fungus (washed, soaked, tear into smaller pieces, discard the hard part and put aside for later use)
• a handful of dried longan (rinsed and drain)
• 5 water chestnuts (peeled, washed and sliced)
• 3 pieces pandan leaves (washed and knoted)
• rock sugar (to taste for your desired sweetness)
• water

How to go about:

1. In a medium pot add in all the ingredients except dried longan, pandan leaves and rock sugar.
2. Add water to cover half the pot, put the lid on and boil using high heat.
3. When water has boiled, reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to boil with lid half open.  Watch out for the water during this cooking process and add more water when necessary.
4. Add in the knoted pandan leaves half way through and continue to cook.
5. When the yi yi ren has softened, add in dried longan and rock sugar and continue to cook for another few minutes.  Taste for correct sweetness, add more rock sugar is needed, stir until dissolves and off the heat.
6. Let it cool down a bit, serve warm in individual bowls or put in the fridge to serve cold.

Chinese Desserts

Simple home made Desserts which are popular among many Chinese families are red bean soup, green bean soup, barley drink, sweet potato soup, bubur cha cha and tong sui. These Desserts can be served either hot, warm or cold, depending on individual liking.  

Tong Sui is one of my favourite Dessert.  The ingredients to cook this Dessert varies and here's to share my version of it, and hope you will all like it!

What you need:

• dried lotus seed (wash, soak overnight, remove germs inside the seed, drain and put aside)
• fresh gingko nuts (see tips on how to prepare fresh gingko nuts)
• dried white fungus (soak, wash, trim off the hard bottom,  tear into pieces and put aside)
• Yi Yi Ren/Imported Barley (wash, soak overnight, drain and put aside)
• dried longan (wash just before cooking)
• rock sugar (to taste)
• pine leaves or pandan leaves (wash, tie into knots)

Tips on how to prepare fresh gingko nuts:

fresh gingko nuts

crack the nuts

remove the thin membrane

to get this!

use a toothpick to remove the germs

Notes: The flesh of the gingko can be boiled in water, drained, cooled, tightly kept in a zip lock bag and put in the freezer for use at any time.

Few simple steps to cook this dessert:

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil, then put in lotus seed and barley first as they need more time to cook.
2. Once the lotus seeds are slightly soft, add in gingko nuts, white fungus and pine leaves. Continue to let it boil.  The softness of the white fungus depends on individual, some prefer it softer while others prefer it crunchier.  
3. Just as all the ingredients are almost cooked, put in the washed dried longan and rock sugar. Give it a good stir to ensure that the rock sugar is well dissolved.
4. Taste the sweetness of the soup according to your liking.  
5. Remove the pot from fire and ready to serve in bowls, if you prefer it hot. 

Notes: (1) If you do notice that I did not put the exact amount of each ingredients for this dessert, it's simply because it is not necessary to do so.  It's up to individual's preferences. I normally will put more gingko nuts because of it's herbal properties and it's my favourite! 

(2) Seedless red dates goes well with this tong sui, but this time round I did not include it because I prefer to have a more cooling dessert as red dates is considered more heaty!