Instant Pot Black Sesame Soup (香滑芝麻糊)

One of the many things I miss from Hong Kong is the traditional Chinese Dessert Shops (Chinese: 糖水舖).

They serve many tasty classic desserts like Tofu Pudding (Chinese: 豆腐花), HK Egg Custard, Taro Sai Mai Lou (Chinese: 芋頭西米露), Black Sesame Soup…and many more!

What is Black Sesame Soup?

Black Sesame Soup (Chinese: 芝麻糊) is a traditional Chinese sweet soup dessert aka tong sui (Chinese: 糖水). It’s mainly made of toasted black sesame seeds, water, sugar, and rice.

Even though it’s made of super simple ingredients, it’s a very wholesome, comforting, and satisfying dessert to eat after a meal.

This warm nourishing dessert also boasts health benefits! Black sesame seeds are tiny, but they’re a rich source of a number of nutrients including antioxidants.

What we look for in a great bowl of Black Sesame Soup:

• Texture: thick (not watery or thin), wholesome, have body, & silky smooth creamy mouthfeel
• Aroma: very fragrant, roasted sesame, nutty aroma that lingers in the mouth
• Flavors: not just a flat sweet tone or sugary taste, but has a more complexity of flavors; just the right sweetness, nutty, and a touch of savory flavor

*Note: Black Sesame Soup is not difficult to make on the stovetop. But since many readers have been requesting how to make a delicious Black Sesame Soup in Instant Pot, we decided to develop this recipe for the Instant Pot to save you from standing by the stove & stirring to prevent it from burning.

Step-by-Step Guide: Black Sesame Soup

Here are the ingredients for making Black Sesame Soup:

Black Sesame Seeds: We used a 1kg bag of roasted black sesame seeds. You can find them on Amazon. But if you aren’t able to buy the roasted version, you can toast them in the Instant Pot with our optional step.

Rinsing Ingredients: If you want, you can rinse the black sesame seeds and rice under cold water before cooking. Make sure to drain well.

Amy + Jacky’s Simple Secret Ingredients

Roasted Sesame Oil: Some of you probably already have this in your pantry! The roasted sesame oil will increase the dessert’s overall aroma.

Salt: It may sound weird or counterintuitive to add salt to a sweet dish, but the much-needed salt will greatly enhance this dessert.

Tools for Instant Pot Black Sesame Soup

• Instant Pot Pressure Cooker
• Vitamix Blender
• Pyrex Measuring Cups
• Fine Mesh Strainer

Optional Step: Toast Sesame Seeds

*Note: If you’re using roasted sesame seeds, you can skip this step.

First, add 1 cup (130g) black sesame seeds with a pinch of white sesame seeds to the Instant Pot.

Heat up your Instant Pot with the “Saute” function. Then, allow the sesame seeds to toast. Stir occasionally. 

*Pro Tip: Use the white sesame seeds as an indicator for when the toasting is done. Once the white sesame seeds turn golden brown, it means your sesame seeds are properly toasted. 

Pressure Cook Black Sesame Soup

Place all the ingredients in Instant Pot in the following order. 

Add 1 cup (130g) roasted black sesame seeds, ¼ cup (58g) Jasmine rice or Calrose rice, 5½ tbsp (69g) rock sugar or granulated sugar, ¼ tsp (1.6g) coarse kosher salt, and 1 tsp (5ml) roasted sesame oil to your Instant Pot. 

Then, add 3.5 cups (875ml) cold water to Instant Pot.

*Pro Tip: Make sure all the rice is submerged in the cooking liquid.

With Venting Knob in Venting Position, close the lid, then turn Venting Knob to Sealing Position.

• Pressure Cooking Method: Pressure Cook at High Pressure for 3 minutes, then Natural Release for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, release the remaining pressure by turning the Venting Knob to Venting position.

Then, remove the lid carefully.

Blend Black Sesame Soup

With a ladle, carefully transfer the black sesame soup into a blender container. Then, blend until the soup is well blended.

*Note: The longer you blend the soup, the smoother it’ll turn out. We used our Vitamix Blender and it took roughly 1.5 minutes – 2.5 minutes.

*Side Note: In our previous experiments, we tried using two different models of immersion hand blenders, but they weren’t powerful enough to fully blend the black sesame soup into a smooth fine mixture.

Season & Serve

*Pro Tip: If you want a super smooth black sesame soup, you can pour the soup mixture through a fine mesh strainer.

Now, give the soup a few stirs with the ladle. 

Finally, taste and adjust the sweetness level.

*Note: The soup is just mildly sweet at this point. If you have a sweet tooth, you’ll definitely want to add more sugar. 

In the end, we added a bit more salt and an extra ½ tsp roasted sesame oil to boost the aroma even further. 🙂

If you want an even thicker soup, you can use the “Saute” button to thicken it further. Be sure to stir the soup continuously as you thicken the soup.

*Note: Keep in mind, the soup will thicken up once it cools down a bit.

This deliciously heartwarming black sesame soup is usually served warm.

Enjoy this Creamy Smooth Black Sesame Soup!

More Chinese Dessert Recipes You’ll Enjoy

Tofu Pudding (免石膏粉豆腐花)

Red Bean Soup (陳皮紅豆沙)

Chinese Sweet Potato Soup (養生暖身番薯糖水)

HK Egg Custard (超滑鮮奶燉蛋)