Lotus Seeds substitute

Best substitute

Cooked Peeled Chestnuts

Use the same amount by weight as the lotus seeds you are replacing

Best for che sen and sweet soups

Close match

Lotus seeds are soft starchy substance with a very mild, faintly sweet, slightly nutty flavour, and in a sweet soup like che sen they are the body of the dish rather than its seasoning. Cooked peeled chestnuts are the closest substitute at 1:1, a little sweeter and denser but almost identical in the way they crumble. Cooked white beans, cannellini or butter beans, are the cheap and surprisingly convincing option that Vietnamese and Chinese cooks use themselves in sweet soups. Ginkgo nuts work if you can find them and are more bitter. If you are stuffing a chicken or making a savoury braise rather than a dessert, chickpeas do the job well. Whatever you use, remember the one thing that ruins a pot of che: the bitter green germ inside a dried lotus seed has to come out.

Other lotus seeds substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Cooked White Beans (Cannellini or Butter Beans)
Different taste
Use the same amount by weight
The genuinely practical swap and closer than it sounds.
What changes
Simmered in sweet syrup, cannellini or butter beans go soft and mealy in exactly the lotus seed way and take on sweetness readily. The flavour is faintly beany rather than nutty, noticeable on its own and largely invisible once coconut milk and sugar are in the bowl. Butter beans are the closer of the two for size.
Best for
che and sweet soups, cheap large batches, savoury braises, when nothing specialist is available
Rinse canned beans very well and simmer them in the syrup for ten minutes so they taste sweet through rather than sweet on the outside. Drain off the canning liquid completely, since it tastes distinctly savoury.
3Ginkgo Nuts
Taste and texture differ
3:4
Traditional in Chinese sweet soups alongside lotus seeds, so it slots straight in.
What changes
Ginkgo is firmer, chewier and distinctly more bitter with a faintly resinous edge, so use a little less and expect a soup with more of an adult, slightly medicinal character. Beautiful pale jade colour in the bowl.
Best for
Chinese sweet soups and tong sui, savoury braises, congee
Ginkgo nuts should be eaten in small quantities only, a handful at most in a shared dish, and are not appropriate for young children. Canned ones are ready to use; fresh ones need shelling and the papery skin rubbed off.
4Cooked Chickpeas
Different taste
Use the same amount by weight
Best where the lotus seeds were savoury rather than sweet.
What changes
Chickpeas hold their shape better and stay firmer at the centre, so a braise or a stuffing keeps distinct round nuggets rather than crumbling ones, and they taste clearly of chickpea. In a sweet soup they are usable but the flavour is more assertive than white beans.
Best for
stuffed chicken, savoury braises and soups, congee
Overcook them slightly, past the point you would want for a salad, so the texture goes mealy rather than firm and comes closer to lotus seed.
5Blanched Whole Almonds, Simmered Soft
Taste and texture differ
3:4
A distant but workable option when you have nothing else.
What changes
Simmered for twenty-five minutes in syrup, blanched almonds soften to a mealy centre roughly like a lotus seed, and they never lose their bite entirely. The obvious problem is that they taste strongly of almond, which redirects the whole dessert. Use fewer than the recipe says.
Best for
sweet soups where almond flavour is welcome, candied fruit trays, sticky rice
Use blanched almonds with the skins off. Skin-on almonds turn the syrup brown and taste tannic after long cooking.
6Canned Lotus Seeds in Syrup
Different texture
Use the same amount reduce the recipe's sugar
Not a substitute for the ingredient but for the work, and worth knowing about.
What changes
Canned lotus seeds are already cooked, already de-germed and already sweetened, so they go into a che at the very end. They are softer and considerably sweeter than seeds you cook yourself, so cut the sugar in the syrup by about a third.
Best for
che sen in fifteen minutes, toppings for drinks and desserts, candied fruit trays
Drain them and taste the syrup, then use some of it as part of the liquid in the recipe. Do not simmer them, which turns them into mush.

What is Lotus Seeds?

Lotus Seeds is Lotus seeds, hat sen in Vietnamese and lian zi in Chinese, are the pale round seeds of the lotus pod, sold fresh in season or dried year-round, and cooking to a soft crumbly texture much like a boiled chestnut.

Cooking tips

Split every dried lotus seed and flick out the small green sprout in the middle. That germ is intensely bitter and a handful of them will make an entire pot of che taste medicinal. Many packets are sold already de-germed, so check before you spend the time.
Soak dried lotus seeds in cold water for at least two hours, ideally overnight, then simmer in plain water until tender before any sugar goes near them. Sugar added early firms the outside and they will never soften properly in the middle.
Fresh lotus seeds in season need only eight to ten minutes and are a completely different, crunchier, sweeter thing. Do not follow dried-seed timings for them.
Cook them at a bare simmer with the lid off and do not stir much. Lotus seeds break apart easily once tender and a hard boil turns a clear che cloudy with starch.
Any of the substitutes here should go into the sweetened syrup only after they are already tender, for the same reason: sugar stops starchy things from softening.

Frequently asked questions

Can I leave lotus seeds out of che sen?

Not really, because in che sen they are the entire substance of the dessert and it is named after them. You need something starchy and soft in the bowl. Cooked chestnuts, white beans or canned lotus seeds all give you a proper dessert. If you have none of those, make a different che based on mung bean or tapioca instead of serving sweetened water.

What do lotus seeds taste like?

Mild and gently sweet with a soft crumbly texture, closest to a boiled chestnut or a very starchy cooked bean. There is a faint nuttiness and almost no strong flavour, which is why they work in delicate sweet soups. If yours taste bitter, the green germ inside was not removed, and that is a preparation issue rather than the seed itself.

Are lotus seeds the same as lotus root?

No, they come from the same plant but are not interchangeable. Lotus root is the crunchy, hole-patterned rhizome used sliced in stir-fries and salads. Lotus seeds are the soft starchy seeds from the flower's pod, used in sweet soups, fillings and stuffings. Nothing in a recipe that calls for one will work with the other.

Why are my lotus seeds still hard after an hour of cooking?

Almost always because sugar went into the pot too early. Simmer them in plain water until they yield easily to a fingernail, then add the sugar or syrup. The other cause is very old dried seeds, which can refuse to soften at all no matter how long you cook them. Soaking overnight helps considerably in both cases.

Where do I buy lotus seeds?

Dried lotus seeds are in the dried goods aisle of any Vietnamese or Chinese grocery, often labelled hat sen or lian zi, and canned sweetened ones are near the other canned fruit. Fresh green pods appear in summer and are worth buying when you see them. Dried seeds keep for a year in a sealed jar but soften more reluctantly the older they get.

Related substitutes

More nuts & seeds substitutes

Lotus Seeds substitute

Other lotus seeds substitutes

2Cooked White Beans (Cannellini or Butter Beans)

3Ginkgo Nuts

4Cooked Chickpeas

5Blanched Whole Almonds, Simmered Soft

6Canned Lotus Seeds in Syrup