A warm dessert soup of ground black sesame, sweetened with sugar and thickened with rice flour.
A Cantonese tong sui (糖水, sweet soup) tradition formalized in 19th-century Guangzhou dessert houses, where late-night bowls of warm sweet soups were sold alongside red-bean and walnut versions. Black sesame in Chinese medicine is a yin tonic for kidneys and hair; the dessert sits at the medicinal-pleasurable border that defines tong sui culture. Hong Kong sweet shops keep the canonical recipe — just sesame, glutinous rice, sugar, water.
Zhi ma hu — Cantonese tong sui where toasted black sesame is wet-ground with rice and cooked into a glossy paste. Skipping the toast step gives a chalky, raw-tasting soup; the rice is what carries the texture.
A small bowl of glossy near-black porridge, the consistency of loose pudding. First spoonful is bitter-toasted, then sweet, then a faint oiliness from the sesame fat. Served warm — usually after dinner or as a late-night sweet. The good version is just sesame, sugar, and rice; if it tastes chalky or grainy, the sesame wasn't toasted enough or the rice flour is doing too much work.
Toasting the sesame is everything. Raw sesame ground into soup tastes like wet sand; properly toasted (dry pan, low heat, until fragrant and just past dark) it develops the nutty bitter notes that hold up against sugar. The glutinous rice is for body — it's stone-ground with the sesame, not added separately. Most modern versions over-thicken with cornstarch, which gives a glassy texture instead of the proper grainy-creamy mouthfeel.
Variations
Cantonese tong sui-house version with rice base; walnut-and-sesame double tong sui (he tao zhi ma hu); Hong Kong's Yuen Kee uses stone-grinding; some kitchens float a glutinous-rice tang yuan in the bowl.
On the Palate
Where Black Sesame Soup sits in the Chinese flavor cloud
Toasting is the whole dish: dry-pan the sesame over low heat until it's fragrant and just past dark — raw sesame tastes like wet sand, and burnt sesame turns the bowl bitter.
Ingredients
How it's made
5 steps · 22 min
- 15 min
Rinse the black sesame seeds under cold running water. Drain them well and toast in a dry pan over medium heat until they emit a nutty aroma and turn slightly darker, about 5 minutes.
Watch outStop the moment the aroma turns nutty and the seeds darken a shade — a few seconds past that and they go bitter.
- 24 min
Transfer the toasted sesame seeds to a blender. Add just enough water to cover the seeds and blend into a smooth paste, ensuring there are no remaining gritty bits.
Watch outBlend until a drop rubbed between your fingers feels smooth, not sandy.
- 35 min
Pour the sesame paste into a pot and add the remaining water. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
- 45 min
Stir in the sugar and continue to simmer until the sugar dissolves completely and the soup thickens slightly, about 5 minutes.
Watch outIt should thicken enough to coat the spoon and slide off in a slow ribbon, not stay watery.
- 53 min
Add the coconut milk and stir well to combine. Heat through until just warmed, ensuring not to boil, to preserve the coconut milk's flavor.
Watch outAvoid boiling after adding the coconut milk to prevent it from curdling.
