Recipe: Tasty Mung Bean Cakes

Mung Bean Cakes. Mung bean cake (lvdougao) is a traditional and popular Chinese dessert in summer. The main ingredient, mung beans or sometimes called as green mung bean is a common and daily ingredient in Chinese cooking. In traditional Chinese medicine, those little green beans have a cold property, which can further help to protect our body from hot.

They are quite sweet tasting when browned, like caramelized onions. Mung beans can be found in Asian markets, or Asian sections of larger supermarkets. This is a very dense, moist cake. You can have Mung Bean Cakes using 5 ingredients and 8 steps. Here is how you achieve that.

Ingredients of Mung Bean Cakes

1. Prepare 1 cup of peeled green beans.
2. It's 2 Tbs of sugar.
3. You need 4.5 Tbs of maple syrup.
4. You need 4 Tbs of low-fat, salt-free butter (soften).
5. Prepare of (Note: You may increase butter to 5.5 Tbs).

Mung bean cake is one of the traditional special pastries, which is a summer snack. According to legend, in ancient China, in order to seek safety and health, dumplings, realgar wine, mung bean cake, and salted duck eggs were eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival. Mung bean cakes & mung bean mooncakes are a popular snack in China, Taiwan and Asia. According to some health website, mung bean consumption helps in the detoxification process in our body and also helps to alleviate gastrointestinal disorders.

Mung Bean Cakes step by step

1. Rinse the mung bean several times with water until the water is clear, soak in water overnight. (add water at least 3 inches above the top of the beans.).
2. Drain, after soaking. Set the steamer: Add enough water in the bottom of the pot. Cover the steamer and bring the water to boil. Place mung beans in the steamer and steam for 30 minutes. (you may cover a parchment paper under the lid to prevent extra water falling in to the beans.) Check the cooked mung beans: It should have a soft texture when squeezed between your fingers..
3. Meanwhile, prepare Mooncake Mold: I use the jelly mold, rinse it with hot water, and set dry. (You can apply a thin layer of oil in the mold to help demolding if needed).
4. Use a food processor to break the steamed mung beans into fine powder when it is still hot..
5. Add sugar, maple syrup, and butter into the food processor. Blend everything together until smoothly. (This is "Mung bean paste" which can be used as a filling for other desserts).
6. Preheat a pan, use a paper towel to apply a thin layer of oil to the bottom of the pan. Fold the mung bean paste over medium/small heat until the paste dries up and become a soft/ smooth dough..
7. Transfer the dough to a bowl and let it cool down a bit about 5 minutes. Wear gloves, apply a little butter on the gloves. Take a small portion of the mung bean paste then roll it into a round ball (about 30 g per ball). Gently press it into mold..
8. Let it cool down more in the mold about 10 minutes. Put a parchment paper on the cooling grid, demold the mung bean cake on it, let sit until completely cool down. Enjoy it directly or chill in the refrigerator then eat it cold as the iced mung bean cake. (This is a low-fat formula, so the product is easy to break/crack, depending on personal preference, you may increase the amount of butter to 5.5 tablespoons).

It is effective especially for removing body heat, so it is widely used in the Summer. Mung bean cake (lvdougao) is a traditional and popular Chinese dessert in summer. The main ingredient, mung beans or sometimes called as green mung bean is a common and daily ingredient in Chinese cooking. Combine the skinned mung beans and sweet rice in a large bowl, rinse and drain in cold water a couple of times. Mung bean paste is also a common filling of pastries known as hopia (or bakpia) popular in Indonesia, the Philippines and further afield in Guyana (where it is known as "black eye cake").