Che Dau Do (Red Bean Sweet Soup with Coconut Milk), Sweetened with Monk Fruit

Method

1. Wash the red beans, pick out any that are damaged, then soak them in water overnight so they cook to tender quickly without splitting.
2. Once soaked, rinse the beans again and drain them.
3. Put 2 litres of water, 200 g of red beans, 3 pandan leaves and half a teaspoon of salt in a pot. Cook over low heat for about 30 to 45 minutes.
4. Once the beans are tender, add 135 g of kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, cook another 15 minutes and take the pot off the heat.
5. Cook the coconut milk: dissolve 20 g of cornstarch and 27 g of kOBE Monk Fruit Blend in 150 ml of water.
6. Put 200 ml of coconut milk, 2 pandan leaves and the slaked cornstarch into a pot. Cook over low heat, stirring steadily.
7. Once the coconut milk boils and thickens, take it off the heat.
8. Ladle the red bean soup into bowls and pour a little coconut milk over the top.

Tips

• Soaking the red beans overnight brings them to tender quickly while keeping the beans whole.
• Pandan leaf cooked in both the bean pot and the coconut milk pot carries the scent through.
• The sweetener goes in after the beans have softened, since adding it early toughens their skins.
• Stirring the coconut milk constantly over low heat keeps the starch from clumping.
• Two tastings 5 minutes apart are what land the sweetness right.