sweet mung bean soup

sweet mung bean soup


my grandfather, that is my mother's father, built a large house for the hong family along the river in dan sui in taiwan sometime in the late 60's or early 70's. it was tradition for our whole family to spend our summers here and i did for a large part of my teenytiny person-hood. it was hot, it was humid, there were large bugs, swimming, ghost stories and the little rivalries that went on between the cousins. we also had a great cook that made huge meals 3 times a day, large enough to feed about 20+ people. 2 of my favorites was a dish called luo ba bung (a stewed beef/pork dish) and lu dou tang (forgive me if my pinyin is totally off) or a sweet mung bean dessert soup. i am anticipating making this a lot in the coming months and made up a batch for the heatwave about to sweep through chicago this weekend. it is not too sweet (unless you want it to be), light, refreshing and requires all of 4 ingredients, one of which is free (well i don't pay a water bill so its free for me). it is similar to adzuki or red bean. this is also made with lotus seeds but i like mine plain. you can also add tapioca balls.


1/2 C mung beans
1/4 C sugar
1/2 t vanilla
water

1. rinse the mung beans and soak in water overnight
2. pour the beans and the water it had been soaking in into a pot. let simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
3. pour in the sugar and mix until dissolved. let boil another 20 minutes. if the water is getting low, just add more.
4. stir in the vanilla.

serve it warm or let cool and eat with some ice cubes.

this makes about 4 smallish servings, or 2 plentiful servings.