Chinese Red Bean Porridge: A Comforting Sweet Rice Bowl

Chinese red bean porridge, often called hong dou zhou, is a gently sweet bowl of adzuki beans simmered with rice until the beans are tender and the grains turn soft and creamy. This home-style dish is served warm or chilled, and its simple ingredients make it easy to adjust from a loose breakfast porridge to a thicker dessert; family and regional versions vary in sweetness and texture.

Ingredients

1 cup (200 g) dried adzuki beans, picked over and rinsed
½ cup (95 g) short-grain white rice
¼ cup (50 g) glutinous rice, also called sweet rice
8 cups (1.9 L) water, plus up to 2 cups (480 ml) hot water for adjusting the consistency
⅓ cup (65 g) Chinese rock sugar or granulated sugar, or more to taste
⅛ teaspoon (about 0.7 g) fine salt
1 small piece dried tangerine peel, about 2 inches (5 cm), optional

Instructions

Soak the beans. Check the adzuki beans for small stones or damaged beans, then rinse them under cool running water. Put them in a bowl and cover with several inches of water. Soak for at least 8 hours, or overnight, then drain and rinse. The soaking water is discarded; it is not part of the measured cooking water. If you forgot to soak them, see the FAQ for a practical alternative, but allow extra cooking time.
Start the beans. Add the drained beans and 8 cups (1.9 L) fresh water to a heavy, medium-to-large pot. Add the dried tangerine peel, if using. Bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat, skimming away any foam that gathers on top. Reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer, partially cover the pot, and cook for about 65 minutes. Stir occasionally and check that the beans remain covered; add a little hot water if the level drops too far. The beans should be soft enough to bite through, though some may have split. If they are still firm, simmer a little longer before adding rice.
Rinse and add the rice. While the beans simmer, rinse the short-grain and glutinous rice together in a fine-mesh strainer until the water runs mostly clear. Drain well. Once the beans are tender, stir in the rice and salt. Return the pot to a gentle simmer, keeping the lid partly on so steam can escape. Avoid a hard boil: vigorous bubbling can make the rice stick to the bottom before the beans and grains have blended.
Simmer until creamy. Cook for about 40 minutes, stirring every 5 to 10 minutes and scraping the bottom and corners of the pot. As the rice releases starch, the porridge will thicken. If it becomes thicker than you like, add hot water a little at a time. For a looser, soupier bowl, use more; for a spoon-standing texture, use less. The rice should be very soft and the beans tender throughout. If either is still firm, continue simmering and check every 5 minutes.
Sweeten and serve. Remove the tangerine peel. Stir in the rock sugar until it dissolves, then taste and add more sugar if desired. Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes to bring the flavors together, keeping in mind that the porridge thickens as it stands. Turn off the heat and rest it for about 5 minutes before ladling into bowls. Serve warm, or cool it for a chilled version.

Tips

Use fresh, good-quality beans. Very old dried beans can stay stubbornly firm even after a long soak and simmer. If the beans are not tender after the stated cooking time, keep simmering them before adding rice; rice cooks faster and can turn mushy while you wait for hard beans to soften.
Keep the heat gentle and stir the bottom. Rice porridge can catch on the base of a pot, particularly near the end when it thickens. Use a heavy pot, lower the heat as needed, and scrape the bottom regularly with a wooden spoon or heat-safe spatula. Add hot water rather than cold if you need to loosen it.
Choose your rice texture. Glutinous rice gives the porridge a silkier, more cohesive body, but it is not the same as ordinary short-grain rice. If you cannot find it, replace it with an equal amount of short-grain rice; the result will still be pleasant, but a little less sticky and rich. Do not use only glutinous rice unless you want a much denser bowl.
Sweeten at the end. Sugar added after the beans soften gives you more control over the final taste. Chinese rock sugar is traditional in many versions and dissolves cleanly, but ordinary granulated sugar works. Dried tangerine peel is optional and can be hard to find; omit it or use a small strip of fresh orange zest for a brighter citrus note.

Serving Suggestions

Serve the porridge in small bowls as a warm breakfast, a light snack, or a simple dessert. Its sweetness is intentionally restrained, so it can be enjoyed on its own without feeling heavy. For a more dessert-like bowl, offer extra sugar at the table rather than sweetening the entire pot heavily. A small splash of coconut milk is a pleasing addition, although it gives the dish a richer flavor that is not present in every Chinese home-style version.

For contrasting texture, top individual portions with a spoonful of toasted sesame seeds, chopped roasted peanuts, or a few sliced almonds. Add toppings just before serving so they stay crisp. If serving the porridge chilled, loosen it with a little cold water or milk after refrigeration, then stir until smooth; the rice thickens as it cools. A chilled bowl is especially convenient when making the recipe ahead, while warm portions are comforting on a cool morning.

Variations

Make it less sweet: Start with 2 tablespoons (25 g) sugar instead of ⅓ cup, then let each person sweeten their own bowl. The beans have a mild, earthy flavor that works well with only a little sugar, and reducing the sugar does not change the cooking method.

Make a smoother porridge: Once the beans are tender, press a few against the side of the pot with the back of a spoon before adding the rice. This thickens the liquid while leaving plenty of whole beans. For a more uniform texture, mash some of the cooked beans near the end, but avoid blending the hot mixture in a sealed blender.

Add other grains or beans: Some home cooks include a small amount of millet, barley, or lotus seeds. If adding a grain, choose one that cooks in roughly the same time as the rice, or cook it separately and stir it in; barley may need a longer simmer and will make the porridge chewier. Dried lotus seeds should be soaked and cooked until tender before being combined with the rice. Keep the total amount of added grains modest, or increase the water so the pot does not become too thick.

Use a quicker-cooking alternative: Canned adzuki beans can be used when time is short. Drain and rinse about 1½ cups (250 g) beans, then add them with the rinsed rice and water. Because canned beans are already cooked, skip the long bean simmer and cook the rice until soft, adding water as needed. The beans will be less integrated and may be softer than beans cooked from dry, so stir gently and taste before adding salt or sugar.

Storage and Reheating

Cool leftovers promptly and refrigerate them within 2 hours of cooking in a covered, airtight container. Keep the porridge refrigerated for 3 to 4 days. It will become noticeably thicker as the rice absorbs liquid, which is normal; portion it into shallow containers if you want it to cool more quickly. Do not leave a pot at room temperature for extended storage, and do not store it in a cupboard or pantry.

To reheat one portion, put it in a saucepan with a few tablespoons of water, then warm over low to medium-low heat, stirring often until evenly hot. Add more water in small amounts to restore the consistency you like. For a larger portion, use a covered saucepan and stir several times so the center heats through without scorching the bottom. You can also microwave a serving in a microwave-safe bowl, covered loosely, stirring halfway through. USDA FSIS guidance is to reheat leftovers to 165°F (74°C); check the center with a food thermometer. Freeze portions in airtight containers for up to 2 months for best quality, thaw overnight in the refrigerator, and reheat as described.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to soak adzuki beans overnight?
Soaking helps the beans cook more evenly and makes the timing easier to predict, so it is recommended for this recipe. If you are short on time, rinse the beans, cover them with water in a saucepan, bring to a boil for 2 minutes, turn off the heat, cover, and let them stand for 1 hour. Drain and proceed, allowing extra simmering time; test the beans for tenderness before adding rice.

Can I cook Chinese red bean porridge in a rice cooker?
Some rice cookers have a porridge or soup setting, but capacity and heat controls differ. Soak the beans first and confirm that your cooker is suitable for long simmering with a substantial amount of liquid. Many standard cookers will not soften dried beans reliably on a porridge cycle, so cook the beans on the stovetop until tender before transferring them with the rice and cooking liquid to the cooker. Do not fill a cooker above its marked limit.

Why is my porridge still watery?
It may simply need more simmering time. Keep the lid partly open and cook gently, stirring regularly, until the rice releases enough starch to thicken the liquid. Remember that the porridge also thickens as it cools. If the beans and rice are already tender, you can mash a few beans against the pot to add body rather than boiling hard, which can make the bottom scorch.

Why did the porridge become too thick overnight?
Rice continues to absorb liquid during storage, so even a correctly cooked batch can set into a thick, spoonable mixture in the refrigerator. Stir in water, milk, or coconut milk while reheating, adding a little at a time until it loosens. Water keeps the flavor closest to the original; milk or coconut milk makes it creamier and changes the flavor.

Can I use kidney beans or ordinary red beans instead of adzuki?
Small dried red beans sold in some Asian markets may work, but they can vary in size and may need a different cooking time. Kidney beans are larger and have a different texture, so they are not a close swap for adzuki in this porridge. If using a different dried bean, cook it until fully tender before adding rice and follow the package instructions for preparation and cooking.

Can I make this porridge without sugar?
Yes. Leave out the sugar for a savory-leaning, earthy bowl, or serve sugar separately so everyone can choose. The salt remains useful for balancing the flavor, but you can reduce it slightly if you prefer. Unsweetened porridge is also easy to customize with toppings, though it will no longer taste like the sweeter dessert-style versions many people associate with red bean porridge.

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Safety notes: safe minimum internal temperatures from USDA FSIS; raw and undercooked fish guidance from the U.S. FDA. Food safety notes

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