Mung bean

The small green dried seed of the mung bean (Vigna radiata), sold whole in bags as an everyday pantry pulse. It needs no long soaking, boils down to a soft sandy texture, and brings a clean, cooling character that offsets rich or warming ingredients in pots like lotus root and dried octopus soup.

TCM properties

Nature · cold　Flavour · sweet　Meridians · heart、stomach

Traditional food therapy

In Cantonese food therapy mung bean is used to clear heat, relieve summer swelter and promote water flow; its cooling nature is traditionally relied on to balance richer tonic soups.

Cautions: read first

• Eat sparingly if your spleen and stomach run cold and weak or you loosen easily; if your stomach runs cold, use adzuki bean (紅豆) instead when making lotus root and octopus soup.
• Not to be taken in quantity alongside warming tonic Chinese medicine (folk wording holds that mung bean cancels the medicine).
• People with gout should take care (beans are high in purines; the whole pot of lotus root, octopus and mung bean soup is off the list for gout).

Preparation

Just rinse; no long soak needed.

Origin

Widely grown across northern China and the Central Plains. Australia is itself a major mung bean grower and exporter (Queensland), so AU supply is often local

Availability in Australia

Easy to find

Pairs well with