Mung Bean Soup (Lvdoutang) / Sweet Dessert Soup Recipe

On sweltering summer days, sweet mung bean soup is the ultimate refreshing treat to beat the heat. Today, let’s learn how to easily make delicious mung bean soup using a classic Tatung electric cooker.

Mung Bean Soup Recipe and Steps

1. First, pick up a small bag of dried mung beans from the convenience store.
2. Pour the mung beans from the bag to fill one standard bowl.
3. Transfer the mung beans from the bowl into an inner metal pot that fits inside the Tatung electric cooker. If beans remain in the bag, fill the bowl again and repeat until the bag is finished, or reserve whatever amount you plan to save for next time.
4. Fill the pot about 70% full with clean water. Gently scrub the mung beans with your hands applying about 3 kg of gentle pressure, then discard the water.
5. Refill the pot 70% full with fresh water, let the beans soak for 3 to 6 hours, and then drain the water completely.
6. Recall how many bowls of mung beans you measured in Step 3. Using the exact same bowl, add three times that volume of fresh water into the pot.
7. Pour one bowl of water into the outer pot of the Tatung electric cooker.
8. Place the inner pot containing the soaked beans and water into the electric cooker.
9. Press down the cook switch to begin heating.
10. Once the switch pops up, wait about 5 minutes before opening the lid.
11. Carefully lift out the inner pot using heat-resistant oven mitts.
12. Pour boiling hot water into the pot until you reach your desired ratio of soup liquid to beans.
13. Place the inner pot directly onto a gas stovetop burner.
14. Add granulated brown sugar (No. 2 cane sugar) or your preferred sweetener into the pot.
15. Ignite the stove and adjust the flame to medium heat.
16. Bring the soup to a boil, then immediately turn off the heat.
17. Ladle a spoonful of soup to taste-test the sweetness.
18. If it is not sweet enough, stir in additional sugar while the soup is still hot using a ladle.
19. Repeat the taste test until the sweetness is slightly milder than your normal preference (it will taste sweeter once chilled).
20. Allow the soup to cool down completely, cover it with plastic wrap or a lid, and place it in the refrigerator to chill.

Cooking Tips and Precautions

• Pot sizing: After placing the mung beans and water into the pot, ensure there is at least 3 cm of headspace between the liquid level and the top rim of the pot.
• Following the above guideline, when adding hot water in Step 12, maintain at least 3 cm of clearance from the top rim.
• Do not place a trivet or metal rack inside the electric cooker; the bottom of the inner pot must make direct contact with the heating surface of the outer pot.
• Make sure the outer lid is fitted snugly on the cooker during the cooking cycle.
• This recipe primarily uses the classic Tatung electric cooker. If using other electric cookers or rice cookers, simply operate them as you would when cooking standard white rice.
• Preparing 2 to 3 bowls of mung beans per batch yields the most consistent results.