A light and refreshing Chinese dessert soup that is usually served in hot weather, to…
Tau Suan
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.
Tau Suan (豆爽) is a sweet Chinese dessert soup, made from split mung beans.
Served in a thick sweet syrup (soup), and usually accompanied with some Chinese fried fritters (油条).
若想阅读中文版本,请在网页的右边 “Google Translate” 点击选择 中文简体 (Chinese Simplified)或 繁体 (Chinese Traditional) 翻译。可能食谱读起来会怪怪的,所以如果有疑问都可以问哦!
Have you tried making Tau Suan on your own before?
Tau Suan should be a familiar dessert item for us in Singapore! It’s one of the popular local dessert here, and it’s quite easy to whip up at home too.
I first tried this Tau Suan recipe back in 2016, which is quite easy to make and fool-proof. Just take note to keep stirring the syrup when you pour in the slurry, as it can form lumps quickly if you do not stir constantly.
>> MORE ASIAN DESSERTS:
How Can I Make This Sweet Soup Dessert?
To make this dessert soup, we will need to steam the split mung beans, which are dehusked split green beans.
Here, we are using mostly gula melaka to sweeten the thickened syrup. You can also simply use white sugar, and adjust the sweetness according to your preference. I am using gula melaka because my family members like it.
While I prefer to serve it hot, this dessert can also be served cold.

Tau Suan 豆爽
- Total Time: 60 minutes
- Yield: 0 Adults 1x
Description
A bowl of sweet soup, with thick syrup made with the yummy Gula Melaka (palm sugar).
Ingredients
- 200 g split mung bean
- 2 knots of pandan leaves (about 4–6 leaves in total)
- 700 ml water
- 60 g chopped gula melaka + 40g sugar; or just 100g sugar
- Thickener: 3 tbsp potato starch + 3 tbsp water
- Fried fritters (cut)
Instructions
- Rinse and soak the mung beans for a couple of hours. You can also do it overnight.
- Place 1 knot of the pandan leaves together with the mung beans, and steam for about 30 mins on medium high heat. Set aside.
- Boil the water with sugar and 1 knot of pandan leaves. Stir occasionally to ensure the sugar dissolve well. Once boiled, lower heat and add in half portion of the thickener. Stir well.
- Add in the steamed mung beans and continue stirring. If the syrup does not thicken to your liking, add in another portion of the thickener slowly. Stir well and let the syrup boil slightly. The syrup will further thicken as it boils.
- Serve warm with fried fritters.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Dessert
Hi Cherie,
Wish I could join you for a bowl of yummy tau suan … cos my big kids don't fancy tau suan. They only attack the you tiao … lol.
Hi Karen, lol! It's the opposite from mine! My husband and toddler don't fancy the you tiao. Always me eating the high calories you tiao lol!