A simple, wholesome dish with mung beans cooked in coconut milk.
It's low in sugar and therefore suited as a fitness snack or dessert.
TL;DR
This recipe is one of Paul's (my husband's) favorite desserts, as it is wholesome and simple to prepare.
The mung beans are soaked, boiled and then at the end cooked in coconut milk and some sweetener.
It's not that sweet, in fact, sugar is just added to balance out all the other flavors in the dish, making it a body and mind fit dish.
It's a straightforward recipe with natural plant-based protein rich ingredients. Originally, Paul would have it after a workout, but it has turned into a common sweet dessert/snack at home.
Ingredient Notes
- Mung Beans — dried whole green mung. You might come across canned mung beans (although they are rare), but those are sweetened, and therefore I recommend avoiding them.
- Water — to soak, to boil
- Coconut Milk — unsweetened, classic or light version.
- Sugar — normal sugar, brown sugar, or natural sugars such as palm sugar or honey. The choice is yours. Paul likes it with maple syrup, too.
- Salt
Process Overview
Step 1
Place mung beans into a small pot and wash them with your hands with water, 3 times, until it's all clear.
Step 2
Pour fresh water over the beans so that they are covered. Keep mung beans to soak for at least 3 hours. This will soften the beans.
Step 3
Strain mung beans and place them in a pot with the measured fresh water and salt.
Boil mung beans until they start to open up, 25 or so minutes. Stir occasionally and skim off excess foam.
Step 4
Reduce the heat and pour in the sugar and the coconut milk.
Step 5
Simmer your mung beans in the sweet coconut milk for about 20 to 30 minutes more, or until the beans are cooked through completely, and you are satisfied with the consistency.
📖 Recipe
Nourishing Mung Bean Coconut Milk Dessert
Ingredients
Soak Beans:
- 1 cup Mung Beans whole, dried, green
- Water
Boil Beans:
- 3 cups Water
Cook Dish:
- 1 can Coconut Milk
- 3 Tablespoon Sugar
- ⅛ Teaspoon Salt
Instructions
Soak Beans:
- Place dried mung beans into a bowl and wash them well with your hands with water 3 times until the water appears clear.1 cup Mung Beans, Water
- Cover the beans with plenty of water and leave to soak for about 3 hours. Keep in mind that the beans will soak up water and increase a bit in size.
Boil Beans and Cook Dish:
- Strain beans after soaking and discard the soaking water.
- Place the beans into a pan and cover with the fresh water and add the salt. Bring to boil over a medium high heat setting.3 cups Water
- Skim off excess foam.
- Cook the beans until they start to open up. This can take about 25 minutes or more. Stir occasionally.
- Reduce the heat setting a bit and stir in sugar and all the coconut milk.1 can Coconut Milk, 3 Tablespoon Sugar, ⅛ Teaspoon Salt
- Stir everything well and control the heat, keeping it on a medium setting.
- Simmer for another 20 to 30 minutes, or until the beans break open.
- Serve up hot or cooled.
Notes
Equipment
- Small Pot
Nutrition
Tips
This is not s sweet dessert. The mere reason why sugar is added to this recipe, is to balance out all flavors. If you are used to sweet foods, then the base recipe will not be sweet enough. You can add more sugar in that case.
The soaking and cooking time of the mung beans can be reduced, by cooking them in a Dutch oven or instant pot.
Or you can keep the beans to soak overnight, which essentially softens the beans as they sit in the water for over 8 hours. Consequently, the mung beans will cook through faster.
Don't fully cook the beans in plain water, only boil them halfway through because you want them to simmer in the coconut milk, which will infuse the beans with sweet coconut flavors.
Serving & Storing
You can opt to serve this mung bean coconut milk dessert right after you are done cooking it, in its hot state. Or you can keep it in the fridge to cool.
Paul likes it cooled, I like it hot. Know that in its cold state, the mung dessert gets thick and when it is still hot, the bean and coconut milk appear more liquid.
You can meal prep this dish easily. Place it into containers to batch and keep in the fridge to enjoy during the week, or freeze your mung bean coconut milk dessert to enjoy at a later date.
The dessert keeps well over 7 days in the refrigerator cooled. Frozen, you can either thaw it overnight in the fridge or reheat it in the microwave, oven or over the stove top in a pan.
I like to eat it as a dessert after dinner. Paul tends to eat a small quantity during random times in the day.
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