I have a recent infatuation with red beans, sweet, kidney-looking beans that are used in Chinese desserts. I’ve eaten them all over the city, in many different permutations of style and presentation, although they always deliver their sweet, mealy satisfaction. It began with my ordering a “red bean love” smoothie at a Sichuan restaurant in Kennedy Town, which turned out to be a partially-chunky milkshake consumed with a large straw. Next, I had red beans and steamed milk in Yau Ma Tei. The steamed milk tasted like cold custard, with the same familiar consistency, and the red beans lay liquidly on its white top, warm. Days later, I ate so-called red bean and coconut pudding in Tsim Sha Tsui, which came as a three layer cake of gelatin. The top layer was clear, with little yellow lemony flowers inside, while the middle was red beans packed tightly together, and the bottom was coconut flavored. In Central, at a dedicated dessert place, I ordered the hot red bean soup, which may have had chunks of rice in it and came with ice cream dumplings in a small side dish. The dumplings had a doughy exterior and came in 3 flavors: taro, sesame, and vanilla. I think the sesame, which was colored green, was my favorite. Finally, last night, I ate in a mall food court in Admiralty. I ordered soft-serve green tea ice cream atop cold red bean mixture, with “dumplings,” which were fairly tasteless chewy, smooth rice balls. So delicious, and so Hong Kong.

¶ 2:37 PM