綠豆湯 Lv Dou Tang: Mung Bean Soup

My mom would always make this during the summer, or weirdly, if she thinks my skin is acting out. According to my mom, in Chinese medicine, mung beans have a cooling effect on your body. If we were “shang huo”, she’d say, literally translating into “on fire”, then this mung bean soup would be perfect to balancing your body’s temperature. Apparently it is a must for clean skin and a healthy body.

This recipe is one my mom has used since I was young. It’s very approximate and by taste – so please forgive me for the touch-and-go type recipe. This is a very simple recipe, and really, you should adjust the ingredients to fit your own palate. Here are the variables you can change: mushiness of beans, sweetness, thickness, temperature.

I prefer mine served cold, slightly sweet, and with mushy beans.

RECIPE: 綠豆湯 Mung Bean Soup Recipe

Ingredients:
1 pack dried mung beans (you can pick this up at any Asian supermarket)
Water
Yellow Rock Sugar
Granulated Sugar
Dried lilies (again, Asian supermarket)

This is can vary tremendously. I will list what variables you will be controlling in each step.

1| Prepare: soak green beans in water for 2 hours, up to overnight. Fill the bottom of your saucepan with mung beans. As long as the bottom is covered, you will have enough. Grab a handful of lilies and toss it in. Fill it with water up to 1 inch from the rim of the saucepan. Put on high heat until it starts to boil. Then, reduce to a simmer. Let simmer for 1-2 hours (This time frame will depend on how you prefer your mung beans. Some like it full and intact. I like them to blossom out and soften! Shells should separate.) 

2|When there is an hour left, toss in some chunks of rock sugar and stir. Adjust with rock sugar or granulated sugar to the sweetness you prefer. (For me, the degree of sweetness can make or break your soup, so I always encourage adding sugar to taste. Literally, taste it.)

Serve immediately or pop it in the fridge to chill.