Mung Bean Cake Bites

This was an experiment that made me said “wow!” You see, I purchased a few bags of split dried mung beans from my local Asian store a few months ago because I was curious how mashed mung beans can turn into something sweet and savory. Look up Mooncakes with Mung Bean fillings and Sticky Rice with Mung Beans (Xoi Xeo) which are commonly found in Chinese and Vietnamese grocery markets. It was finally the perfect moment to play around, so I soaked the dried mung beans in a bowl of water overnight. The next day, I looked for some mung bean recipes and the common dessert called mung bean cakes showed up. Many recipes said to mash the beans by hands after soaking and cooking it, but I wasn’t having that so I utilized my food mixer that I received for Christmas! You can still mash the mung beans through a mesh with your hand - prepare a work out. This was the beautiful paste I created and it made me think of my gluten-free friends who would appreciate this beautiful moment (to my gluten-free friends, I promise to include as much gluten-free recipes as I can. If you want to find more recipes, definitely look at Asian recipes since most Asian recipes don’t rely on wheat ingredients and can be substitute with GF certified ingredient brands). Check out my mung bean paste!

Mung bean paste feels like soft playdough with a slight grainy texture similar to almond paste

I used a flower jello plastic mold to create Spring mooncake inspired minis. An assortment of fun shaped molds can be found at your local Asian stores.

Mung Bean Cake Bites

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup dried split mung beans

2 TBSP butter

1 TBSP oil

a pinch of salt

2 TBSP sugar or more if needed

choice of jam filling

Watkins Food Coloring (no artificial dye)

Instructions:

1) Pre-soak dried split mung beans overnight. Rinse and drain the next day.

2) Boil enough water in a sauce pan to cover the mung beans and let it cook for 1o minutes.

3) When mung beans are softened, drain, and let it cool for a few minutes.

4) Using a food processor, place the cooked beans inside and place the top on. Use the puree mode if available for under a minute.

5) When you get a smooth paste-like consistency, scoop it out and cook in a sauce pan with the oil, butter, salt, sugar. Use a spatula to mix in medium low heat for up to 2 minutes.

6) This is the part where your creativity sets in! You can stick with the natural yellow mung bean paste color or apply food coloring ( I use no artificial dyes) to create different colored cake minis. In a separate bowl, I used a few drops of red food coloring to form a pastel pink paste. In another bowl, green food dye was applied to a smaller scoop. Mix your separate colored pastes until the food dye blends evenly the paste.

7) To make my shapes, I scoop a Tablespoon of paste and filled it in my jello molds. It might get a little tricky trying to get the formed paste out but I used a butter knife to peer one side and it worked. The knife can be used to clean the edges of the mung bean shapes. If you don’t have food molds, scoop a Tablespoon of paste and flatten into a circle shape. Placed your choice of jam filling in the center and fold the edges of the paste mold and roll in circles using your palms. This is where a stamp can be used to form a design too. I used a jam filling (sweet purple yam) and spread the jam on the smoother side of the paste shapes (a flower). Next, take a second formed shape and sandwich both shapes together to form your mini mung bean cake bites.

Enjoy your mung bean cake bites within 2 days. After a few days, the paste starts to dry up and break. I covered my finished spring cake bites with plastic wrap and placed in the fridge. Enjoy!