Black Bean and Red Bean Dessert: A Tasty Summer Treat
Black bean and red bean dessert are popular summer treats for beating the heat. These beans are slow-cooked until soft and tender, resulting in a delicious and sweet dish loved by many. While this dessert is not difficult to make, the bean-cooking process can be time-consuming, especially if you don’t use a pressure cooker.
To shorten the cooking time, there’s a handy trick besides using a pressure cooker. Instead of immediately cooking the beans, try this simple pre-cooking step, and you’ll be surprised by the results.
Soak and Clean the Beans Before Cooking
It is essential to soak and clean the beans before cooking. First, rinse the beans with clean water to remove any dirt and pick out any damaged or discolored beans.
Then, soak the beans in water for 6-8 hours or overnight. This process allows the beans to absorb water and become softer, reducing the cooking time and ensuring they turn out tender.
Freeze the Beans
After soaking, place the beans and the soaking water in a container, cover it, and freeze them for about 6 hours or overnight. Freezing breaks down the cells in the beans, making them cook faster. If you’re not cooking the beans right away, you can keep them frozen until you’re ready to use them.
Cooking the Beans
Boil a pot of water and add the frozen beans without thawing them first. Cook over high heat until the water boils again, then reduce to low heat. Continue cooking for about 5 minutes, gently stirring occasionally. Check if the beans are cooked to your desired texture; they should be soft, slightly split, and not crunchy.

At this point, you can add sugar to taste. For a bean dessert, you can use rock sugar, brown sugar, or palm sugar, which have a sweeter and more aromatic flavor than refined sugar. Cook the beans for another 10 minutes to allow the sugar to infuse into the beans.
Some people prefer to caramelize the beans with sugar. To do this, simply separate the beans into another pot, add sugar, and cook over low heat. Gently stir the beans until the sugar is dissolved and coats the beans evenly. Be careful not to over-stir, as this may break the beans. Once the sugar has coated the beans, return them to the pot of bean broth and bring to a boil. Adjust the sweetness to your taste, and you may also add a pinch of salt to enhance the sweetness.
You can enjoy this dessert hot or cold. If you prefer it cold, let it cool down completely and then serve it with ice. To make it even more delightful, you can add coconut milk, fresh or dried coconut, tapioca pearls, or jelly. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator.
This cooking method saves time and ensures the beans become tender while maintaining their shape and appearance.
The Tea Seller’s Secret: The One-Step Method to Soft, Fragrant Black Beans in 10 Minutes
For generations, the art of brewing the perfect cup of Vietnamese black bean dessert soup has been a closely guarded secret. But now, a seasoned dessert soup vendor spills the beans on how to achieve that elusive creamy, nutty flavor with a simple trick. Forget the tedious hours of soaking and simmering – with this hack, you’ll have a dessert soup that tastes just like the pros’ in just 10 minutes.