Every culture cooks with beans, but have you ever had them in a dessert? With these Mung Bean Popsicles, some of you will get very excited, but we’re betting that most of you will probably pass on this one.
A Childhood Summer Dessert
If you didn’t grow up eating these sweet mung bean popsicles, it can be a tough idea to swallow. Our recent trip to Shanghai reminded me of them, along with a childhood that seems pretty far away!
For Shanghainese people who grew up in the 70s and 80s, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Way (way) back in the days, popsicle peddlers—just like today’s ice cream trucks, would come through the deep alleys of Shanghai on their bicycles, with a large wooden box strapped to the backseat. When they opened the lid and uncovered the thick cotton blanket that acted as insulation, you would see the popsicles neatly nested within.
We had a couple of flavors to choose from: plain, mung bean or red bean. If you were short on pennies, you were stuck with the plain, but if you had sufficient funds, deciding on the mung bean or the red bean was a tough choice.
When the neighborhood kids heard the peddlers’ distinguished hollers, they would charge out with pennies in hand, hoping to get the popsicle with the most beans. Everyone knew they were the best part.
I remembered the few times I got to buy a popsicle. When mine didn’t have the same amount of beans as my neighbor’s, how upset I was! I chuckle to myself when I think about those silly moments now. For these popsicles, I loaded the molds with extra beans, just the way I like it!
Did you know that throughout the summer heat and intense humidity, eating mung beans can cool you from the inside out, according to traditional Chinese medicine? This is my theory as to why they were all recently sold out at our local Asian market. I eventually secured a bag at Hmart, but you can definitely use red beans instead!
Recipe Notes
Did you notice that the recipe calls for glutinous rice flour? It sounds weird, but this prevents the popsicles from freezing into solid blocks. With the addition of the glutinous rice, you should be able to bite into a popsicle without bending a tooth or two.
There’s another key fun fact that’s involved in making these popsicles. Sweetened foods taste less sweet after they’re frozen. I used 8 ounces of sugar for this recipe. It was very sweet prior to freezing, but mellowed out afterwards. This suited me just fine, but be mindful of this while you’re adjusting sugar levels to your own taste.
(This recipe makes 10 popsicles, with a little extra that can be eaten as mung bean soup!)
Recipe Instructions
Rinse the dried mung beans in a colander. Transfer to a medium pot and soak in 9 cups of water for at least two hours prior to cooking. Mix the glutinous (sweet) rice flour or cornstarch with ½ cup of cold water until completely dissolved, and set aside.
When two hours have passed, add the rock sugar to the pot, and bring to a boil with the lid on. Once boiled, turn the heat down and simmer for 30-35 minutes until the mung beans are soft, with the majority still maintaining their shape. During this time, check the beans periodically, because fresher beans cook much faster than older beans. Depending on what you have, you may not need the full 30 minutes to cook the mung beans to the right consistency. Be sure not to overcook them.
Now turn up the heat, bring the mixture to a boil, and add the glutinous rice flour mixture. (Make sure to give it a stir to recombine before adding.) Stir the mixture quickly, and turn off the heat. Drain and scoop out a cup of cooked beans, and set aside to cool.
Let the mung bean soup cool completely before using an immersion blender to break down the beans a bit without turning it completely into a puree (you can also pulse the mixture in a regular blender). Now we’re ready to assemble the popsicles!
First, add a spoonful of the cooked beans you set aside earlier to the bottom of each popsicle mold (the tip of the popsicle)…
Then pour in the blended mung bean soup, leaving ⅛-inch between the surface of the liquid and the top of the mold, because the mixture will expand after freezing. Once all the popsicle molds are filled, lightly pound the mold 10 times against the table to get rid of air bubbles. Cover the molds with your lid, insert the popsicle sticks, and freeze for about 6 hours, or until completely frozen.
To retrieve the popsicles, take the mold out of the freezer, and let it sit on the counter for about 2 to 3 minutes to defrost slightly. At this point, they should come out easily. As I’m typing this, I have them individually wrapped with plastic, and stored in a zip-top bag in the freezer!
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Recipe
Mung Bean Popsicles
Ingredients
- 10 ounces dried mung beans (285g)
- 9 ½ cups cold water (divided)
- 2½ tablespoons sweet rice flour (or cornstarch)
- 8 ounces rock sugar (225g, or granulated sugar to taste)
Instructions
- Rinse the dried mung beans in a colander. Transfer to a medium pot and soak in 9 cups of water for at least two hours prior to cooking. Mix the glutinous (sweet) rice flour with ½ cup of cold water until completely dissolved, and set aside.
- When two hours have passed, add the sugar to the pot, and bring to a boil with the lid on. Once boiled, turn the heat down and simmer for 30-35 minutes until the mung beans are soft, with the majority still maintaining their shape. During this time, check the beans periodically, because fresher beans cook much faster than older beans. Depending on what you have, you may not need the full 30 minutes to cook the mung beans to the right consistency. Be sure not to overcook them.
- Now turn up the heat, bring the mixture to a boil, and add the glutinous rice flour mixture. (Make sure to give it a stir to recombine before adding.) Stir the mixture quickly, and turn off the heat. Drain and scoop out a cup of cooked beans, and set aside to cool.
- Let the mung bean soup cool completely before adding it to a blender, and pulse it a couple of times to break down the beans without turning it into a puree. Now we’re ready to assemble the popsicles!
- First, add a spoonful of the cooked beans you set aside earlier to the bottom of each mold (the tip of the popsicle), then pour in the blended mung bean soup, leaving ⅛-inch between the surface of the liquid and the top of the mold, because the mixture will expand after freezing. Once all the molds are filled, lightly pound the mold 10 times against the table to get rid of air bubbles. Cover the molds with your lid, insert the popsicle sticks, and freeze for about 6 hours, or until completely frozen.
- To retrieve the popsicles, take the mold out of the freezer, and let it sit on the counter for about 2 to 3 minutes to defrost slightly. At this point, they should come out easily. Store them individually wrapped with plastic in a zip-top bag in the freezer!
