Looking for something cooling on a hot, humid day? Across East Asia there’s just about nothing more popular for taking the edge off the heat than a red bean pop. Known as hung dau syut tiu in Cantonese, this creamy, lightly sweetened frozen treat takes advantage of the nutty flavor of red beans for a unique refresher on a stick. In addition to the richness of the beans, the ice-cream-like texture of the pops can come from a number of ingredients: milk, cream, condensed milk or even coconut milk. In this recipe we used dried red adzuki beans because they cook fast (especially with the addition of baking soda, which helps the beans soften quickly) and they’re a bit smoother than typical red beans. This recipe has a higher proportion of cream to milk to lower the chance of ice crystals forming in the pops, plus condensed milk for an extra-thick, rich base.
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 15 hr 30 min |
| Active: | 30 min |
| Yield: | about 16 ice pops |
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 15 hr 30 min |
| Active: | 30 min |
| Yield: | about 16 ice pops |
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried red adzuki beans
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup tapioca starch
- 2 cups heavy cream
- Kosher salt
- One 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
Instructions
- Place the beans in a large bowl and pick through them and discard any broken ones. Fill the bowl with cold water halfway and gently run your hands through the beans to remove debris. Pour off as much water as possible while leaving the beans in the bowl. Repeat this rinsing process 2 more times. Pour 4 cups cold water over the cleaned red beans. Leave to soak in the refrigerator until the beans have swelled and the red color is lighter, at least 8 hours or overnight.
- Drain off all the soaking water and transfer the beans to a large saucepan. Pour in cold water until the beans are covered by at least 2 inches (about 8 cups). Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, then immediately reduce the heat to low and stir in the baking soda. Cook, covered, at a gentle simmer until the beans are tender and break apart when pinched, 45 to 50 minutes.
- Drain the beans in a colander and rinse to remove some of the starch. Set aside over a large bowl to drain as much water out as possible. Reserve 1/2 cup cooked red beans and set aside.
- Whisk the milk and tapioca starch in a 2-cup liquid measuring cup until dissolved. Combine the heavy cream, milk mixture and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt in a large saucepan. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 4 minutes.
- Combine the thickened cream mixture, condensed milk and the red beans from the colander in a blender. Blend on medium speed until smooth, about 30 seconds. Add the reserved 1/2 cup red beans and pulse until the beans are roughly chopped, 7 to 10 pulses. You should have about 5 1/2 cups bean mixture.
- Transfer the mixture to ice-pop molds (see Cook’s Note), leaving a 1/4-inch space below the rim to account for expansion during freezing. Put in sticks if your mold allows it and place in the freezer until completely solid, 6 to 8 hours. If your mold doesn’t come with a lid that holds the sticks, freeze the pops uncovered until they begin to freeze solid (about 90 minutes), cover each mold with a small piece of foil and insert craft ice-pop sticks through the foil into the molds; freeze until completely solid.
- Dip each mold into hot water and unmold the ice pop. Enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 16 servings |
| Calories | 240 |
| Total Fat | 13 g |
| Saturated Fat | 8 g |
| Carbohydrates | 27 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Sugar | 15 g |
| Protein | 4 g |
| Cholesterol | 44 mg |
| Sodium | 210 mg |
| Serving Size | 1 of 16 servings |
| Calories | 240 |
| Total Fat | 13 g |
| Saturated Fat | 8 g |
| Carbohydrates | 27 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Sugar | 15 g |
| Protein | 4 g |
| Cholesterol | 44 mg |
| Sodium | 210 mg |