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This silky smooth black sesame soup is nutty and perfectly sweet! Prepared with just 6 ingredients, this Chinese-inspired dessert is surprisingly easy to make and vegan!
Sweet soups were a discovery for me, and I can now say I got addicted!
I tried countless black sesame soups in Vietnam, and one of them was far superior to others. After many tries to get the same flavor and smooth texture, I finally nailed it! This is definitely my favorite sweet soup of all!
⭐️ Why You Should Try It
- It’s delicious. Don’t get scared by its unappetizing look. This soup tastes amazing! It’s perfectly sweet and warming and has a nutty, toasted flavor. If you have never tried it before, I highly recommend giving it a try!
- It’s simple and quick. Just 6 ingredients and about 30 minutes are required to make this unique dessert.
📔 What Is Black Sesame Soup?
Black sesame soup is an Asian dessert very popular in China and Viet Nam. It consists of toasted black sesame seeds blended with water, rice, and sugar. It is served hot in small bowls and enjoyed as a snack.
While black sesame soup is often served alone, it can also be served with glutinous rice balls called “tang yuan”.
🥥 Ingredient Notes
This sweet black sesame soup requires just 6 ingredients. Here is what you will need:
- Black sesame seeds – Use raw black sesame seeds.
- White sesame seeds – We will use just 1 tablespoon of white sesame seeds. Since it can be hard to know when the black sesame seeds are toasted (and not burned), white sesame seeds will allow us to check the toast level.
- Coconut milk – To add creaminess, you can use full-fat coconut milk or light coconut milk if you want a lower-calorie option.
- Sugar – Preferably granulated white sugar. You could use coconut sugar or maple syrup, but it will alter the flavor of the soup.
- Salt – For a balance of sweet and salty!
- Glutinous rice flour – Also called sweet rice flour. It will give the soup a thicker consistency.
🥣 How to Make It
- Toast the seeds. Start by toasting both the black and white sesame seeds in a pan over medium heat. As soon as the white sesame seeds are golden brown, remove all of the seeds from the heat.
- Let it cool. Let the sesame seeds cool for 15-20 minutes.
- Blend. Next, blend them with water in a high-speed blender.
- Strain. Using a nut milk bag, strain the mixture to get a smooth black sesame juice. You can discard the black sesame pulp or use it in other recipes like cookies, oatmeal, etc.
- Combine with the remaining ingredients. Pour the black sesame juice into a saucepan and add the rest of the ingredients: full-fat coconut milk, sugar, a good pinch of salt, and glutinous rice flour to help it thicken.
- Heat until thickened. Bring to a boil and whisk until thickened.
Serve this black sesame soup warm as is or topped with roasted peanuts or coconut flakes! A bowl of this soup + a good movie = the coziest afternoon ever.
📔 Tips
- Do not burn the seeds. Remove the seeds from the heat and from the pan as soon as the white sesame seeds are golden brown. If you toast the seeds for too long, you will end up with a bitter flavor.
- Use a large skillet. You want to toast the seeds in an even layer, so make sure you are using a pan that is large enough, or toast them in two batches.
💬 FAQ
Black sesame seeds are high in antioxidants like iron and vitamin B, which are said to reduce aging and improve memory. However, it is a dessert, and seeds are high in fat, so enjoy it in moderation.
There is not one single authentic recipe, but I tried to make it as close as possible to the Vietnamese version of the soup. While some recipes do not call for straining the black sesame milk, I believe it yields a much smoother texture.
It will work, but the flavor will be different, a little bit less nutty. It will still be delicious, though!
Yes, you can use tapioca starch or cornstarch. The consistency will be slightly different, but it will work.
This soup will keep for up to 3 days in the refrigerator. Reheat over low-medium heat on the stove.
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Sweet Black Sesame Soup
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup black sesame seeds
- 1 tbsp white sesame seeds
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup full-fat coconut milk
- 3 tbsp sugar*
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp glutinous rice flour diluted in 3 tbsp water
Instructions
- Toast the seeds: Place the black and white sesame seeds in a large skillet. Heat over medium heat and toast until the white sesame seeds turn golden brown. Stir regularly to make sure all the seeds are evenly toasted. This step should take around 5 minutes. Once the white sesame seeds are golden brown, immediately transfer them to a blender. You don't want to let the seeds inside the skillet, or they might burn.
- Blend: Let the seeds cool for about 5 minutes. Pour 1 cup of water into the blender and blend on high speed for about 1 minute. Strain the black sesame mixture through a fine sieve and keep the black sesame juice. Discard the sesame pulp, or use it in baked goods.
- Make the soup: Transfer the black sesame juice to a saucepan. Add the full-fat coconut milk, sugar, and salt. Heat over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add the dissolved glutinous rice flour and heat for another 2 minutes, constantly whisking until it starts to boil and thickens.
- Divide into serving bowls and serve warm! Sweet sesame soup will keep for up to 3 days in the refrigerator. Reheat gently over medium heat before eating.
Notes
- Do not burn the seeds. Remove the seeds from the heat and from the pan as soon as the white sesame seeds are golden brown. If you toast the seeds for too long, you will end up with a bitter flavor.
- Use a large skillet. You want to toast the seeds in an even layer, so make sure you are using a pan that is large enough, or toast them in two batches.
- Make it refined sugar-free. You can use coconut sugar or maple syrup to keep this soup refined sugar-free. It might slightly change the flavor, though.
Nutrition
About the Author
Thomas Pagot is the founder, photographer, and recipe developer behind Full of Plants. He created the blog in 2016 as a personal cookbook for vegan recipes. Through years of recipe development, Thomas has successfully grown Full of Plants into a trusted resource for plant-based recipes.
Leave a Comment
thank you very much for sharing this recipe.
i liked the guidelines for making this recipe. they were the easiest to follow.
the resulting dessert was phenomenal and a hit with everyone who tried it.
i served it with 3 little glutinous rice balls in a bowl next to the soup/dessert for each person.
also in the meal: sesame noodle salad on a bed of bok choy and soy sauce “vinaigrette”, main course [something for everyone] roast pork, sauteed vegetables, tufo deep fried in peanut oil, chicken in lemon sauce (Xi Ning Jian Ruan Ji) recipe from my girlfriend, ants climb trees, and roasted shitake mushrooms. this dessert made the meal perfect. thank you again.
oh, yeah!
forgot to list the steamed sliced carrots
mybad
but NOTHING bad about this recipe.
thanks may times.
Thanks for your feedback Lydia!
Glutinous rice balls are the perfect accompaniment to this soup 🙂
just made this today and I really like it. I’m not so sure of it as a soup (in concept), but mare as a custard or pudding. I used coconut cream instead of coconut milk, (its a make that’s 100% coconut kernel, nothing else), so halved the quantity and topped up with water. (I freeze the rest of the coconut cream in 100g batches.)
I put the blender on nut butter mode using a smoothie container instead of the huge 2 Liter container. I didn’t get much pulp left over after I had rung the nut milk bag dry, certainly no more than ¼-⅓ of a cup. I’ll freeze the pulp until I make something like a dehydrator cracker/bread. (The dehydrator is in use as a cheese fridge at the moment. )
Thanks for your feedback Emma! 🙂
It’s always served as a soup in many Asian countries, but if you prefer a custard consistency, that’s up to you.
Glad you liked the recipe!
I love love love this recipe!! I absolutely ADORE black sesame seeds, black sesame ice cream, now black sesame soup—all of it and this is by far my favorite soup ever. It’s perfectly sweet and nutty, and really hits the spot. There’s an amazing black sesame milk “tea” that I get when I go to SF, and after trying the soup, I used this recipe to recreate the milk tea! I toasted the sesame seeds, and blended with cold water, and then used cold full fat coconut milk, and didn’t add rice flour, and boom, SO GOOD. I used maple syrup in the drink, but used the same ratio of the other ingredients, and because it’s 95 today in LA I’m living for this drink. Love all your recipes, thank you thank you thank you <3
Thanks for your feedback Keala! 🙂 I’m happy to hear you liked this soup, or “tea”!
I live in India and glutinous rice flour is difficult to come by.Can I use other rice flour instead?
Thank you .
June Shenoy
Hi June,
Tapioca or potato starch should work as well, you might have to adjust the amount though.
Thank you, Thomas.I will try one of them.
I never saw that recipe before. The making of that soup I think it’s really delicious.
Thanks Alexis!
This is so yummy. I poured it into dessert cups and am chilling them for dessert!
I prefer it warm but chilled is also nice 🙂
I want to make this asap! Is there any substitute for the glutinous rice flour? thanks!
Hi Kaytlin,
I would say cornstarch.
Oh, this sounds wonderful! I’ll have to try it this week. Really excited to hear about a sweet peanut soup too!
Thanks! 🙂
Hi Thomas this is a brilliant recipe. I have been looking for a way to eat black sesame as black sesame is a healing food for female related issues and I could not find a decent recipe except for tahini. Would you be interested in collaboration work with me? I am a Clinical Herbalist interested in healthy food recipe. Do you have an email address so I can write you more about myself and my ideas to you?
Hi Anna, thanks!
You can find my email in the About page.
Wow, what a unique recipe. I can’t say I’ve ever heard of anything like this but now I’m intrigued to try it.
You definitely should! Don’t be scared by the color 🙂
Looks like an interesting recipe! I love sesame seeds, coconut milk and sticky rice. Is there much left after straining the sesame mixture? I’m tempted to use the mixture right out of the blender.
There is about 3/4 cup of sesame juice after straining and I would say a bit more than 1/2 cup of sesame seed pulp.
If using a high speed blender, would the pulp do more than thicken the soup? (I hate throwing food out.)
I don’t recommend using the pulp in the soup, it will result in a grainy texture.
Hi I guess it depends on the blender, I have managed to blend the mixture very soothly and used with the pulp and loved it. But I appreciate it is probably not the 100 percent silky smooth texture that it is intended to have. Still delicious!
It does, I also have a powerful high-speed blender and prefer the soup strained 🙂
– you could make a sesame cracker with the bulp I’d say