The Most Overlooked Sweet Soup Province: How Does It Outshine Guangdong in Variety?

This year's weather is exceptionally hot, and even when it rains, it only adds to the stifling heat. Some experts even suggest that 2023 might become the hottest year on record. At times like these, all one craves is something icy and sweet. At this point, Cantonese people naturally stand up—when it comes to summer chilled desserts, who dares claim first place if Guangdong-style sweet soups don’t?

Then, the neighboring Fujianese quietly raise their hands and say:

Fujian sweet soups, the coolest bite of summer.

Fujianese are accustomed to calling those watery sweet treats "sweet soups." Walking into the streets of Fujian and ducking into sweet soup shops, you’ll see counters several meters long lined with dozens of sweet soup ingredients, proving that Fujian sweet soups are indeed incredibly diverse! Slowly simmering on coal stoves are peanut soup, lotus seed soup, white fungus soup, and peach gum. On metal trays lie boiled quail eggs, adzuki bean jelly (adai), candied lotus root, and taro. Nearby, there’s a whole block of shihu jelly, ready to be scraped and served.

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

The many toppings in a Quanzhou sweet soup shop.

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 major sugarcane-producing regions, Fujianese have an innate preference for sugar. A steaming bowl of peanut soup in the morning is a daily routine for Xiamen locals, while serving red sugar egg soup to important guests is a gesture of hospitality in southern Fujian.

Local sugarcane, combined with sweet potatoes, guavas, and papayas brought back by Fujianese sailors from across the seas, makes Fujian sweet soups a dazzling array of flavors.

Shihu jelly, 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—vibrant taro balls, seasonal fruits, and crystal-clear shihu jelly. One bite delivers an icy coolness, refreshing countless Fujianese summers.

Four Fruits Soup, a carnival of fruity delights.

Which four fruits are in Four Fruits Soup? Even Fujianese might not have a clear answer. In fact, the Four Fruits Soup 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 the Fujianese philosophy of harmony. The jelly-like texture mainly comes from shihu jelly, Ficus pumila jelly, or grass jelly.

Shihu jelly is typically scraped into strips for serving.

Shihu seaweed is a coral-like algae that grows along southern coasts. When dried and slowly simmered, it yields rich agar, forming translucent shihu jelly. Compared to Sichuan’s ice jelly, shihu jelly has a crisper, firmer texture and can be scraped into long, thin strands. Once a staple for dockworkers and sailors, topped with syrup to beat the heat, it’s now a key element in Four Fruits Soup.

Dried shihu seaweed resembles burning flames, but the resulting jelly is crystal clear.

If shihu jelly is a gift from the sea, then Ficus pumila jelly and grass jelly are delights from the land. Ficus pumila fruit, a wild berry growing near Wuyi Mountain, contains abundant seeds. After sun-drying, it also yields agar. In Nanping, Fujian, it’s typically diced and drizzled with honey, offering a light natural fruitiness and cooling relief.

The bouncy texture mostly comes from cassava, Fujian’s third-largest tuber crop after sweet potatoes and potatoes, with Mingxi County in Sanming being the prime producer. Raw cassava is toxic, but Fujianese transform it into adai and taro balls. Cooked adai turns semi-translucent white, forming adorable little cubes that are both chewy and springy, delivering a satisfying bite.

The chewy, 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 get a whole bowl of taro paste to indulge in.

Sweet and silky taro paste is a Fujianese favorite.

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

How many more surprises does Fujian’s sweet soup have in store?

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

Changle Ice Rice: Fuzhou’s Summer Refreshment

Changle District in Fuzhou, formerly Changle County, is the birthplace of the beloved Changle Ice Rice. 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 Treasures 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 Fruits," with the standout being stuffed taro balls—soft, glutinous orbs filled with black sesame paste, a testament to Fujianese 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, life here has revolved around peanuts. Peanuts appear in offerings, as fillings in traditional cakes, as 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 day with a bowl of egg-dropped peanut soup at Huang Zehe. A raw egg is cracked into a bowl, then scalded by piping hot peanut soup—just enough to cook the egg gently, resulting in a warm, sweet sip.

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

For Southern Fujianese, peanut soup isn’t just breakfast. A late-night bowl is a sweet end to a busy day, and at weddings, it signals the start of a happy marriage.

Sweet Potato Sweet Soup: A Childhood Memory for All Fujianese

Southern Fujianese Mandarin is often teasingly called the "sweet potato accent," a nod to their deep love for the tuber. In the Ming Dynasty, Chen Zhenlong of Changle brought sweet potatoes from the Philippines to Fujian, where they became a lifeline during famines—appearing in porridge, dried strips, and more.

Sweet potato sweet soup is nourishing and comforting.

A bowl of sweet potato sweet soup is a shared childhood memory across Fujian. Cubed sweet potatoes, peeled ginger slices, pitted dates, and brown sugar simmer for 20 minutes, creating a heartwarming winter treat.

Sweet soup: a taste encoded in Fujianese DNA.

Fujian 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 large-scale production of liquid sugar using the plain sugar method and initially mastered rock sugar production. In the Yuan Dynasty, Fujian invented color-removal techniques to process brown sugar into white sugar, leading China in technology. By the Ming Dynasty, driven by Fujian's technological advancements, the Ming Dynasty became Asia's and even the world's largest sugar producer and exporter.

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

Advanced sugar-processing techniques gave birth to Fujian’s sweet soups, which in turn influenced local culinary traditions. In some Fujian banquets, the first and last dishes are always desserts and sweet soups, a combination called "sweet start and finish," symbolizing a perfect beginning and ending. New Year’s Eve feasts and the first meal of Lunar New Year also include sweet soups or tangyuan (glutinous rice balls), representing family unity and harmony. In some regions, people eat "yuan zai" (sweet glutinous rice ball soup) on the morning of the Winter Solstice, symbolizing reunion and sweetness, colloquially called "adding a year."

Another dish, considered "dark cuisine" by northerners, is "sweet soup with eggs"—poached eggs in brown sugar syrup. For southern Fujianese, this dish holds deep significance: it’s served to welcome returning family members or important guests.

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

Photo/VCG

Yesterday, Typhoon Doksuri made landfall in Jinjiang, Fujian. We hope everyone stays safe at home. Once the typhoon passes, let’s enjoy a bowl of sweet soup together!