China's Most Underrated Summer Dessert Soup Province: Neither Hainan Nor Sichuan

This year's weather is exceptionally hot, with high temperatures arriving early in the north, while the south is affected by rain, making it both hot and humid. At times like these, all one craves are those icy, sweet treats. Speaking of which, Cantonese people naturally stand up—when it comes to summer desserts, who dares to claim first place if Guangdong-style sweet soups don't take it?

Then, Fujianese neighbors quietly raise their hands and say:

Fujian sweet soups, the coolest bite of summer.

Fujianese are accustomed to calling those soupy desserts "sweet soups." Walking into the streets of Fujian and ducking into sweet soup shops, one will see counters several meters long lined with dozens of sweet soup ingredients, proving that Fujianese aren't exaggerating—Fujian sweet soups are incredibly diverse! Slowly simmering on coal stoves are peanut soup, lotus seed soup, white fungus soup, and peach gum, while iron trays hold boiled quail eggs, adai (tapioca cubes), candied lotus root, and taro. Nearby, there's a whole block of shihuagao (gelidium jelly), scraped fresh as needed.

Each ingredient can star solo in a bowl, like Pucheng barley soup, Gutian white fungus soup, or Jianning lotus seed soup. Of course, multiple ingredients can also mix for an ensemble performance—add whatever you like, turning it into Zhangzhou "Four Fruits Soup" or Fuzhou Changle "Ice Rice."

The many toppings in Quanzhou sweet soup shops.

As early as the Western Han Dynasty, the King of Minyue once presented "sugar" as tribute to Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang. As one of China's main sugarcane-producing regions, Fujianese have an innate preference for sugar. A steaming bowl of peanut soup in the morning is part of Xiamen locals' daily routine, while a bowl of brown sugar eggs for important guests is a gesture of hospitality in southern Fujian.

Local sugarcane, combined with sweet potatoes, guavas, and papayas brought back by Fujianese navigators from overseas, makes Fujian sweet soups wonderfully diverse.

Shihuagao, adai, taro paste...

Four Fruits Soup, the pinnacle of Chinese desserts.

What sweet soup best represents Fujian in summer? Fujianese will unanimously say: Four Fruits Soup! A bowl of Four Fruits Soup starts with a sweet syrup base, half filled with crushed ice and the other half with colorful toppings—taro balls, seasonal fruits, and crystal-clear shihuagao. One bite delivers an icy coolness, refreshing countless Fujianese summers.

Four Fruits Soup, a carnival of fruity ingredients.

Which four fruits are actually in Four Fruits Soup? Even Fujianese might not be sure. The version popular across Fujian today originated in Zhangzhou. Originally, it truly had only "four fruits"—some say mung beans, barley, adai, and lotus seeds, while others claim mung beans, red beans, white fungus, and grass jelly. In any case, the selection was limited, unlike today's dozens of toppings, making it more like "Ten Fruits Soup." Some ingredients are soft and sticky, others smooth and bouncy—a grand showcase of Fujian's culinary treasures.

But those dozens of toppings aren't randomly paired. Behind each combination lies Fujianese philosophy. The jelly-like texture mainly comes from shihuagao, Ficus pumila jelly, or grass jelly.

Shihuagao is usually scraped into strips before eating.

Shihuacai (Gelidium) is a coral-like seaweed that grows along southern coasts. After drying and slow simmering, it yields rich agar, forming translucent shihuagao. Compared to Sichuan's ice jelly, shihuagao has a crisper, firmer texture and can be scraped into long, thin strands. Once a dockside treat for sailors, drizzled with syrup to beat the heat, it's now a key element in Four Fruits Soup.

Dried shihuacai resembles burning flames, yet the resulting shihuagao is crystal clear.

If shihuagao is a gift from the sea, then Ficus pumila jelly and grass jelly are delicacies from the land. Ficus pumila fruit grows wild near Wuyi Mountain, its flesh packed with seeds. After sun-drying, it also yields agar. In Nanping, Fujian, it's typically cut into small cubes with a knife and drizzled with honey, offering a light natural fruitiness and cooling relief.

The bouncy texture mostly comes from tapioca. Tapioca is Fujian's third-largest tuber crop after sweet potatoes and potatoes, with Mingxi County in Sanming producing the best. Raw tapioca is toxic, but Fujianese turn it into adai and taro balls. Cooked adai turns white and semi-transparent, forming cute little cubes that are both chewy and springy, delivering a delightful crunch.

The springy, bouncy adai and taro balls.

Photo/Tuchong Creative

Then there’s the must-mention taro paste, the inspiration behind the now-nationwide craze for taro milk tea, which likely originated in Fujian. Taro paste is a must-order dessert in Fuzhou restaurants—a simple bowl of pale purple mush that surprises with its sweet, silky texture, leaving a lingering, unforgettable taste. In Fuzhou’s sweet soup shops, you can even order a whole bowl of taro paste to indulge in.

Sweet and silky taro paste is a Fujianese favorite.

Changle Ice Rice, Sweet Potato Soup, Egg-Dropped Peanut Soup

Just how many surprises does Fujian’s sweet soup have in store?

The universe of Fujian sweet soups is far more expansive than just "Four-Ingredient Soup." In the minds of Fujian locals, sweet soups encompass a vast array. Fuzhou’s Changle Ice Rice, for instance, adds glutinous rice to the mix, making it not only refreshing but also filling. A bowl of Egg-Dropped Peanut Soup, rich and nourishing, is the first sweet taste of the day for Southern Fujianese. And a simple bowl of Sweet Potato Soup, the most ordinary of sweet soups, is also a childhood memory shared by all Fujianese.

Changle Ice Rice: Fuzhou’s Summer Cooler

Changle District in Fuzhou, originally Changle County, is the birthplace of the Changle Ice Rice beloved by locals. Today, walking along Kuaiqiao Road in Changle’s old town, ice rice shops line both sides of the street, packed with customers every evening.

Locals call it "Eight-Treasure Ice Rice." The "rice" is usually steamed glutinous or black rice, which becomes delightfully chewy after chilling. The "eight treasures" offer twice the variety of "four ingredients," with the standout being stuffed taro balls—soft, sticky orbs filled with black sesame paste, a testament to Fujian’s culinary creativity.

The ice atop the rice is special too—not gritty shaved ice but a semi-melted slush that dissolves instantly in the mouth, banishing the summer heat.

Egg-Dropped Peanut Soup: Southern Fujian’s Morning Sweetness

Southern Fujian might be China’s most peanut-obsessed region. Since the first peanut arrived in Fujian during the Ming Dynasty, locals have never looked back. Peanuts appear in worship cakes as fillings, in peanut sauce for dumplings and noodles, and even in stir-fried seafood.

But the ultimate peanut dish for Southern Fujianese is peanut soup. Many visitors to Xiamen start their first breakfast with a bowl at Huang Zehe, where a raw egg is whisked into piping-hot peanut soup—just hot enough to cook the egg—creating a gentle, sweet sip.

Beyond eggs, taro can also be added to peanut soup.

For Southern Fujianese, though, peanut soup isn’t just breakfast. A late-night bowl is the sweet finale to a busy day, while at weddings, it signals the start of a couple’s sweet life together.

Sweet Potato Soup: A Childhood Memory for All Fujianese

Southern Fujian’s Mandarin accent is often playfully called the "sweet potato twang"—likely because locals adore sweet potatoes. In the Ming Dynasty, Fuzhou’s Chen Zhenlong brought sweet potatoes from the Philippines to Fujian, where they became a lifeline during famines, appearing in porridge, dried strips, and more.

Sweet potato soup is pure, soothing sweetness.

A bowl of it is a shared childhood memory across Fujian: sweet potato chunks, peeled ginger slices, pitted dates, and brown sugar simmered for 20 minutes—warming hearts and stomachs in winter.

Sweet soup: a taste etched in Fujianese DNA.

Fujianese people's love for sweetness is etched in their genes. Sugarcane cultivation in Fujian dates back to the Western Han Dynasty, with records of "the King of Minyue presenting five hu of rock honey to Emperor Gaozu." By the Song Dynasty, Fujianese began mass-producing liquid sugar using the plain sugar method and initially mastered rock sugar production. In the Yuan Dynasty, Fujian invented decolorization technology to process brown sugar into white sugar, leading China in this technique. By the Ming Dynasty, driven by Fujian's technological advancements, the Ming Empire became Asia's and even the world's largest sugar producer and exporter.

What's poured into Fujian sweet soups is sugarcane syrup.

Advanced sugar processing technology gave birth to Fujian's sweet soups, which in turn influenced local culinary traditions. In some Fujian banquets, the first and last dishes must be a dessert and sweet soup, a combination called "sweet start and finish," symbolizing a perfect beginning and end. The New Year's Eve feast and the first meal of Lunar New Year always include sweet soup or tangyuan (glutinous rice balls), representing family "reunion and harmony." Some regions eat "yuan zai" (sweet glutinous rice ball soup) on winter solstice mornings, symbolizing sweet reunion and called "adding a year."

Another dish, deemed "dark cuisine" by northerners, is "sweet soup eggs"—poached eggs in brown sugar syrup. For southern Fujianese, this dish holds deep meaning: it's served to returning wanderers or honored guests as a welcome gesture.

What northerners call "dark cuisine" is Fujian's beloved sweet soup.

Photo/VCG

We hope everyone gets a chance to visit Fujian and share a bowl of sweet soup!