This refreshing Mung Bean Drink (also called Mung Bean Tea and Mung Bean Soup) is so nutritious and great for keeping you hydrated. Simply boil together green mung beans, ginger, and water for this popular Chinese drink. Serve hot or cool. Sweeten with a little honey if you'd like. Enjoy ^_^
Why This Recipe Works
Mung Bean Drink has roots in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Many recipes based on TCM can call for harder to find ingredients or are labor intensive, but luckily mung bean drink is easy to make with pantry ingredients! All you need is green mung beans, ginger, and water.
This drink goes by a few different names:
- Mung Bean Drink
- Mung Bean Tea
- Mung Bean Soup
Why all these different names? I think this is because it's one of those drinks that can go either way. Sweeten it a little, and the drink becomes almost like a tea/tisane or dessert. Serve it in a bowl, and then it feels like a soup. But served in a mug? Then it's a drink! There's no right or wrong way about it.
Mung bean drink is a nourishing with an earthy flavor and hints of ginger. It's soft and mellow and makes you feel really "whole." It's quite unlike any other drink, so you'll have to try it for yourself ^_^
Serving Temperature
This drink is often enjoyed on hot summer days (or year round in Hawaii haha), or when eating really spicy foods.
You can serve this drink hot or chilled. I serve it hot in cold days, and chilled on hot days. Don't add ice to it though. If you're going to serve chilled, just serve it lightly chilled.
Mung Bean Drink in Hawaii
I first tried mung bean drink at Mian in Honolulu and couldn't stop thinking about it. I immediately went home to try make my own version. After several rounds of testing, I settled on the recipe today which I hope you'll enjoy.
Mian is a Chinese noodle restaurant at the 808 Center (808 Sheridan Street). They are popular for Chongqing noodles...so spicy, so good!
Because almost all of their dishes are spicy, they serve guests a complimentary cup of mung bean drink. They serve the drink chilled. It is delicious, especially when sipped between bites of those spicy noodles.
Ingredients
Here's what you'll need:
- Water
- Green mung beans
- Ginger
- Honey (optional)
Step by Step Directions
Let's get cooking:
Rinse and boil.
Rinse the mung beans. Combine the water, mung beans, and sliced ginger in a pot. Cover and bring to a boil.
Simmer.
Turn heat down to low and let simmer for 15 minutes.
Pour.
Turn off the stove and pour the liquid into individual drinking cups.
Enjoy!
You can strain out the mung beans and ginger, or add a spoonful of mung beans to each cup (eat the mung beans with a spoon at the end, so delicious).
Optional: sweeten your drink with a teaspoon of honey per cup.
FAQs and Tips
The drink keeps only for 24 hours. So don't make a giant portion if you're planning to finish it within a day.
...anything spicy! I love drink it solo, as a refreshing on a warm day. But when serving with a meal, pair it with any spicy dish. It makes an excellent and cooling counter to any heat or spice.
I usually don't sweeten it, but I know many who like a tiny bit of honey added to the tea. I recommend trying it plain/unsweetened first. And then sweeten it later if you'd like.
It's up to you! Some people like to drink only the liquid, leaving the mung beans in the pot. Others like to add a few mung beans to their cup.
Because I really don't like wasting any food, I like to add a spoonful of mung beans to each cup. And then when I reach the bottom of the drink, I get a little spoon and scoop them up to eat. The mung beans will be very soft and tender. It's like a nice little snack at the end of your drink.
Don't forget this is a very flexible recipe. I suggest trying the recipe listed as is, and then feel free to tailor it the next time around. You can add more or less ginger, more or less mung beans. Feel free to play around with the ratios until you find your preferred ratio.
If you plan to drink it a lot (sometimes I drink multiple cups throughout the day), then you can make it lighter/diluted so that you can almost treat it like drinking water. When I serve it at the end of the meal (like a pre-dessert or palate cleaner), I like to make the flavors stronger.
Make sure to also try our Vietnamese Mung Bean Dessert (Che Dau Xanh) ^_^
Mung Bean Drink Recipe
See below and enjoy ^_^
Mung Bean Drink
This refreshing Mung Bean Drink (also called Mung Bean Tea) is so nutritious and great for keeping you hydrated. Simply boil together green mung beans, ginger, and water for this popular Chinese drink. Serve hot or cool. Sweeten with a little honey if you'd like. Enjoy ^_^
Ingredients
- 2 quarts water
- ⅓ cup green mung beans
- 2-inch knob ginger, sliced
- 1-2 teaspoons honey (optional)
Instructions
- Rinse the mung beans. Combine the water, mung beans, and sliced ginger in a pot. Cover and bring to a boil.
- Turn heat down to low and let simmer for 15 minutes.
- Turn off the stove and pour the liquid into individual drinking cups.
- You can strain out the mung beans and ginger, or add a spoonful of mung beans to each cup (eat the mung beans with a spoon at the end, so delicious).
- Optional: sweeten your drink with a teaspoon of honey per cup.
Mahalo for Reading!