There are dozen of reasons that I want to recommend mung bean recipes to you. Although it is not a popular western ingredients.. Mung bean is believed to be beneficial to the human body as it can help to reduce the hotness because of the cold attribute.
It is a super ingredient in my kitchen. I still remember the first time I truly fell in love with mung beans. It was a sweltering summer day, and my grandma handed me a bowl of chilled Luon tāng (绿豆汤)—a soothing Chinese mung bean soup. After the small snap in summer, the first sip helps to cool me down in body and bring calmness in mind.
Since then, I’ve experimented with mung beans in everything from desserts to milk tea and then to ice cream, and they never disappoint. Now, I’m excited to share my favorite ways to enjoy this humble yet magical ingredient with you!
We have different options for cold and hot days. In summer, you can find the packaged ones in almost every freezer of the street store or freshly stewed ones in hot pot restaurants.
In this post, I will share a simple mung bean soup recipe. After that, we will move on to make mung bean paste, mung bean cake, my summer favorite ice cream (popsicles), mung bean milk based on this soup.
How to Make Mung Bean Soup
Ingredients (Serves 4)
- 1 cup mung beansrinsed to remove any dirty on surface then soak in hot water for 30 minutes.
- 5 cups water (or sub coconut milk for creaminess)
- 3–4 tbsp sugar (or coconut sugar/honey)
- Pinch of salt
If you are in a hurry, you can skip the soaking process and use instant pot directly for making the soup.
I always wonder why some of the mung bean soup turns brownish red while sometimes it is green in color. After several batches of testing, the PH value of the water is playing the role. If you want a light green mung bean soup, add a small squeeze of lemon juice.
Whether Soaking or Not?
You may wonder whether it is necessary to soak the mung beans for mung bean soup. Soaking is a great physic treatment to break the tough skins and thus can definitely speed up the cooking. So if you do have time, pre-soaking is always recommended.
However when you are hurry, you can directly cook the mung beans too especially with an instant pot or a rice cooker.
If you don’t have time for soaking and don’t have those tool by hand, don’t worry. There is still a method of hot and cold water changing method to cook mung bean soup in a short time. I believe this is a more dedicate way because my mung bean soup with this method taste much better instant pot version.
How to Make Mung Bean Soup
Wash and rinse mung beans.
If you are using instant pot or rice cooker, add the washed beans and water in pot. Use soup procedure. I love to cook the mung bean with sugar for instant pot version.
My dedicate unique way (on stove with a regular pot)
This is a dedicate way of making mung bean soup which can speed up the process. No soaking needed.
- Clean the mung bean and discard if there is any damaged beans.
- Place the mung bean in a pot, add enough water to cover the beans. Possibly 2-3 cm higher than the beans. Bring the content to a boiling. Simmer for 3-4 minutes.
- Transfer the beans out and rinsing under cold water to make them cool down completely.
- Add the beans into the pot again, then pour in 1/3 of the water and squeeze some lemon juice. Start cooking 8 minutes, then add another 1/3 water, another 8 minutes.
Finally the remaining water and the sugar.
The steps sound quite easy right? But the science behind is far beyond. You can keep reading if you are interested or skip this in case you only want the steps.
First, let’s talk about the blanching and shocking method. When we boil the beans for 3-4 minutes, the heat causes the bean skins to expand and develop micro-cracks. The crucial step is to rinsing in cold water, this creates larger fissures in the skin. So this helps the mung bean to be broken in the later cooking process.
I figure out the staged water adding way is because it can repeat the first step effect for several times. Each time of adding water drops the temperature greatly. So the mung beans are going through heat-cold-heat-cold process.
I highly recommend adding lemon juice because it can preserves that beautiful green color by preventing chlorophyll oxidation.
Ways of serving and Customization
- You can add pumpkin cubes to the mung bean soup. If you prefer a healthier version, pumpkin can provide natural sweetness and you can skip sugar.
- Mung bean soup can be served directly after cooking, served either chilled or warm.
- You can further choose to mix it with other ingredients like coconut milk, milk or even use it as a base for milk tea. I love to add coconut milk and cooked sago. It is a more popular drink now in my area.
Pure summer cold version
- 1 cup mung beans
- 1/4 cup rock sugar
- 1.5 L water
- ice cubes for serving
Instant pot method
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The instant pot method is much easier, simply add sugar, mung beans, and pumpkin if using, and water and cook with bean or soup pressure. Let the pot stay in the cooker for 20 minutes and transfer out. Add a pinch of salt to balance the taste and wait for the soup to cool down naturally.
My Unique On- Stove Method
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Clean the mung bean and discard if there is any damaged beans.
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Place the mung bean in a pot, add enough water to cover the beans. Possibly 2-3 cm higher than the beans. Bring the content to a boiling. Simmer for 3-4 minutes.
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Transfer the beans out and rinsing under cold water to make them cool down completely.
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Add the beans into the pot again, then pour in 1/3 of the water and squeeze some lemon juice. Start cooking 8 minutes, then add another 1/3 water, another 8 minutes. Cover the lid in the process and stir fry time to time to avoid sticking.
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Finally the remaining water and the sugar. Cook for another 3-4 minutes. And use your scoop to smash the beans slightly if you prefer a more broken version.
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Serve hot or with ice cubes in hot summer days.
Calories: 227kcal | Carbohydrates: 44g | Protein: 12g | Sodium: 32mg | Potassium: 644mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 60IU | Vitamin C: 2.5mg | Calcium: 83mg | Iron: 3.5mg