Author: Eric Grundhauser / Source: Atlas Obscura
Last month, Atlas Obscura challenged readers to make their own version of black sesame sweet soup, a dessert soup that’s popular in Hong Kong. In its most basic form it comes out pitch-black, creamy, and nutty, and it’s just one of the more than 800 wondrous foods featured on our food vertical, Gastro Obscura.
All of the adventurous home cooks who took us up on our challenge deserve a round of applause. Many of you found a way to personalize your soups by subtly varying the recipe, and one of you even dared to cook yours over a campfire.
Most importantly, you wrote in to tell us about the entire experience, including helpful hints you learned along the way.We’ve collected our favorite submissions below. Read on, and perhaps you’ll be inspired to try making your own black sesame sweet soup.
Sandra Donabed of Jupiter, Florida
Tell us about your experience! Did you discover any useful hints?
You can skip ahead if you use roasted black sesame tahini in place of the raw sesame seeds. And try with black rice too to keep it really black and not gray. Who eats gray food? That way you can roast with rice, let sit overnight together, blend together, and cook together.
How, if at all, did you change the recipe?
I stopped blending it before complete puree, so it has a bit more texture. And it was badly in need of a pinch of salt! Also, I garnished with some white sesame seeds.
Did you like the soup?
Once I added some salt it became quite good!
Karen Wiggins-Dowler of Pacifica, California
If you are straining the sesame seeds, use a cloth bag and not cheese cloth! Sesame liquid squirted everywhere.
How, if at all, did you change the recipe?
I used black rice and hulled millet, and after soaking it for an hour and rinsing it, I put the rice mixture in the freezer for an hour before blending it (I didn’t want to wait overnight and the freezing helps to break down the outside cell structure) in a soy milk maker. I then strained the mixture with a wire mesh, producing a rice paste. I also added 1/2 cup dried lily bulb to the sesame seeds before I blended them.
Did you like the soup?
I liked it after adding more rock sugar and a pinch of salt!
Chantal-Lise Mirman of Brighton, Colorado
With Halloween coming up, how could I resist this La Brea Tar Pits simulacrum? Sticky and sweet, this concoction is as likely to swallow you up as you are to slurp it down! I felt more like a modern day alchemist, creating new life, than a culinary expert as I measured, toasted, combined and simmered exotic ingredients for this relatively simple recipe. However, don’t be…
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