Sweet Mung Bean Soup

[fitfool]

I love sweetened mung beans as a dessert and snack. I like it cold out of the fridge, really cold mixed in with shaved ice, or warm and soothing heated up. You can adjust how much sugar to add to suit your own tastes. You can buy these dried beans at an Asian grocery store. Possibly available at regular stores too in the international foods section or maybe health foods bulk bins though I've never looked anywhere besides Chinatown for these.

Found recipe at http://www.eatingchina.com/recipes.html#mungbean

Sweet Mung Bean Soup (lu dou tang)
Mung beans, according to Chinese, have a 'cooling' effect on the body, so this is a very popular snack in summer. The dish can also be served hot. A refreshing summer snack or dessert. Very easy to make.
Serves 6

Ingredients
1/2 cup of mung beans
6 cups of water
5 tablespoons sugar or to taste

Method
Soak the beans overnight, or least for 4 hours, in plenty of water.
Place in a large pot, add the water.
Bring to a boil, add sugar, stir, and simmer for 1 hour.
Let cool, then refrigerate for 1 hour, and serve

Seeing this post (http://community.livejournal.com/cooking/3536473.html) reminded me to post this one of my own. Go read that thread if you want more ideas of things to do with mung beans.

Thread at food_porn

Comments

[sahm.livejournal.com]

mung bean smoothies are some of my favorites. i also love foods that are filled with mung beans. and they're so healthy for you!

definitely one of the things i miss most while at college :/

[damsaeldaemon.livejournal.com]

Do you find that mung beans are hard on your sensitive?

I made a mung bean/brown rice dish a couple of weeks ago, and while it was delicious and hearty, it was really hard on the digestive track (sorry tmi).

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

I've never noticed any ill effects to my digestive system with mung beans. I find them to be a very filling and satisfying dish but not hard on the system at all. Guess I got lucky. Or maybe it was just a bad day for you? Have you tried them again?

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

mung bean smoothies? Interesting...how do you make them?

[kitarra.livejournal.com]

This almost looks like it might be good as a smoothy! Maybe with some green tea instead of water!

Never knew what to do with mung beans!

[sahm.livejournal.com]

Prepare the beans, sweeten them, and then add milk/ice, basically....I also make tapioca bubbles if I'm in a bubble tea mood :)

Yesterday I linked someone to this (http://www.recipezaar.com/115523) recipe for banh phu the, which are one of my favorite things to eat (luckily I can't get them all the time!)

If you prepare the 'filling' part of that recipe, it works well in smoothies :)

You can also make red bean smoothies...

[sahm.livejournal.com]

nope, never had any trouble....hopefully it was just a fluke for you!

[ullrsawah.livejournal.com]

Tempting. If I ever get caught up on projects, I will cook again.

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

I want to try banh phu the! And a red bean smoothie sounds downright irresistible.

[inksafe.livejournal.com]

Mung beans, huh? Never heard of them. I must go roam around the Asian store so I can see what I'm missing!

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

sahm says mung bean smoothies are great in a comment up above. This is the only thing I know to do with mung beans. I'm vaguely tempted to try sprouting them (as suggested in the other thread) but I think I like the sweetened version a little too much to have them as sprouts in a salad or sandwich.

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

*grin* these are an excellent candidate for cooking in the background. You don't really have to watch them while they're boiling for an hour. Just turn the stove on, set a timer and come back later. and then it makes enough to have several servings as snacks just waiting in the fridge for later.

[sahm.livejournal.com]

they're very similar to the mochi you made a while back, at least in practice :)

pretty simple, but the batter is *really* sticky. I made them without the coconut (I'm not such a fan) or the 'essence'...really, to me, it's just a matter of the glutinous starch batter (we used tapioca starch) and the sweet mung bean filling.

I love most things with odd textures (jello-stuff especially...the only exception that comes readily to mind is Gefilte fish, which I can't stand :P)

[sahm.livejournal.com]

Our dictionaries differ a bit! :P (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=mung)

Here's a highlight from dictionary.com, tho:

However, it is known that during the World Wars,
`mung' was U.S. army slang for the ersatz creamed chipped beef
better known as `SOS'

[damsaeldaemon.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I hope so. I was on a bit of a weird cleansing at the time, so I guess I'll give it another whirl!

[jennae.livejournal.com]

What exactly do they taste like???

green bean

[(Anonymous)]

If you like your sweet mung bean soup clear, please rinse with water before you add the sugar syrup.
We add the sugar syrup after the mung bean cooking well done. (The mung bean just cracking not wide open)By the way, our store use the rice cooker cooks it. That way cook faster and you don't have to stir what so ever.

You might like this one too. Go check it out.
<http://www.nicemeal.com/dessert/dessert01.html>

[writertobe.livejournal.com]

Hey there. I think it was mung beans I used to grow sprouts. I never tried them as themselves. I'll have to give a try.

Also, I noticed I missed your birthday in Jan. while I was on a brief sabatical from LJ. So, Happy Belated Birthday. I hope you had a great one and many more to come. Cya!

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

They have a texture similar to lentil beans. But with the sugar it's sweeter and a little milder than the taste of lentil beans. I'd have to taste them again to take a better try at describing the taste but I made this several months ago so I'm a little foggy on the exact taste sensation.

Re: green bean

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the advice! I like the cloudiness of the water though. I hadn't thought to try it in the rice cooker. I'll try it next time.

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

The other thread mentioned sprouting mung beans too. I'm curious to try it but I like this sweetened version so much I'm reluctant to just get sprouts out of them. Thanks for the birthday wishes.

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

I've never tried Gefilte fish. They look kinda weird in the bottles I've seen in the grocery store.

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

gah! Why would you even know a definition like that for mung? Though now that you bring it up, it does sound rather close to dung. But it tastes so much better!

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

I had long just thought of them as Chinese green beans. It's funny...my mom prepared a lot of traditional Chinese dishes but I wasn't big on knowing the names of things or how they were made. So I too wander the aisles of the Asian groceries trying to see which things look vaguely familiar and then hit the web to look for instructions on what to do with them once I've got them home. So much cool stuff there.

[sahm.livejournal.com]

I just...can't reconcile the sponge-like texture with the fishy taste. One of the things I love about seafood is the texture!

Not to bias you completely against them. I've known people who like them well enough :P

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

Spongy? No one's ever mentioned that aspect of the fish. Weird. Yeah, it'll probably be many years yet before I end up trying it. I don't think I know anyone who eats that.