Black Sesame Seed Soup

In a large pot over high heat, combine 2½ cups (625 ml) water with the Redpath Simply Raw™ Turbinado Sugar, ginger halves, and salt. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Add 3 cups (750 ml) cold water to the sugar water. Let cool.

Meanwhile, in a dry pan over medium heat, roast the black and white sesame seeds until fragrant and toasted, stirring and shaking pan to ensure even toasting. Use the white sesame seeds as an indicator of how toasted the black sesame seeds are. Once the white sesame seeds are golden in colour, remove from the heat and transfer to a dish to prevent seeds from burning; 8 to 10 minutes. Set aside to cool completely.

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Place the glutinous rice flour into the same pan, and toast the flour until pale golden in colour; 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer to a dish to cool completely.

Place the cooled sesame seeds into a high-powered blender or food processor. Pulse several times until a powder forms, scraping the sides of the bowl to ensure all seeds are processed. Do not over-process as this will result in sesame butter.

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Add in the cooled glutinous rice flour. Pulse several times to thoroughly combine and to grind the sesame seeds even further. Let dust settle before opening lid. Add 2 cups (500 ml) water to the blender. Blend until homogenous and very smooth; about 2 minutes.

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Slowly pour the sesame seed mixture, while mixing, into the sugar-water solution in the pot. Place the pot on medium heat, stirring continuously to prevent lumps, and bring the soup to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer soup until thickened, stirring constantly to prevent the soup from burning on the bottom; 10 minutes.

Serve immediately while still hot. For a smoother soup, remove the pieces of ginger and use a handheld blender or place portions of soup into a blender, and blend until desired consistency is reached.

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