Mung Beans

by LadyTong | Jan 18, 2012 | Uncategorized | 0 comments

Ingredient Name: Mung Beans (also known as mungbean, bean, mung, green gram, mung gram)

Traditional Chinese Name: 綠豆 (lǜdòu)

• The direct translation of this from Chinese means “green bean”
• It is a small, round, oval-shaped bean that is green in color with a white eye (or center) and very hard
• The mung bean is commonly used in Chinese cuisine (soups, stews, desserts, made into paste, dishes, etc..)
• It is considered a cooling food and used to fight inflammation, heaty bodies, heat stroke, and fevers

How do I prepare it?

• Soak in warm water and rinse before using in soups

Where can I buy this?

• Readily available at most Asian supermarkets (packaged)
• Definitely available in Hong Kong wet marts (sold in the dried food vendor stalls) and can be purchased in the bulk volume of your choice

What is the cost?

• Very affordable
• One bag of 100g of mung bean cost me around $5-6 HKD at the wet mart
• This price will vary on vendor to vendor (and even from wet mart to supermarket)

Any benefits?

• The mung bean is an excellent source of protein
• It contains a healthy amount of Vitamin C and E
• They also contain Calcium, Iron, and Potassium
• The beans are a great weight-loss food and still give them punch of require proteins in daily diet

Any precautions?

• Take caution when consuming in the first trimester of a pregnancy (for soups, you can throw in 3-4 pieces of ginger into a soup that has mung beans)
• Be sure to purchase mung beans from a reputable source

Additional Information

• Store in a dry and cool place (up to 6 months)