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Green Bean Soup
Chinese Green Bean Soup 绿豆汤
Note (Nov 2010): This was first posted in May 2008, now updated with new photos and improved recipe.
This is an easy Chinese soup dessert that is cooling and sweet, which is suitable for the perpetual hot weather in Singapore. Green beans (or some call ‘mung beans’) are considered by Chinese as a ‘cooling’ food, and some believe it is a good natural alternative home remedy for acne. I just love making this because it is so easy and tasty. The sago is optional, but I totally love the look and texture of sago in my green bean soup. Green bean soup is cooling, while red bean soup is warming. If you love both them both, do check out my easy red bean soup recipe.
Ingredients
(Serves 4)- 100g green beans (aka mung beans) – soaked overnight, rinsed and drained
- 2 pandan (screw pine) leaves, dried ends cut, tied in a knot
- 1.7 litres water
- 70g rock sugar, to taste
- 3 small pieces (10g) of dried orange (tangerine) peel
- 80g canned or vacuum-packed lotus seeds or ginkgo nuts (optional)
- 50g (1/3 cup) small sago (small tapioca pearls)
Directions
1. Bring a small pot of water to boil. Add sago and simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off the stove, cover the pot with lid and let the sago continue to cook on its own for another 10 minutes, until all the sago turns translucent. Run the cooked sago through a fine sieve and running water to remove excess starch. Set aside. Check out this step-by-step photo tutorial for preparing sago.
2. In a bigger soup pot, add red beans, 1.7 litres water, dried orange peel and pandan leaves. Bring to a boil.
3. Add lotus seeds/gingko nuts and reduce heat to a simmer, partially covered, for about 50 minutes (or until the beans are soft), stirring the sides and bottom of the pot occasionally. Top up with hot water at any time if necessary.
4. Stir in rock sugar (to taste) until the sugar is dissolved. Discard orange peel slices and pandan leaves. Add the cooked sago prepared in step 1 to the green bean soup. Serve warmed or chilled.
Similar Recipe
- Red Bean Soup
- How to Cook Sago
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{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Yay, I was lucky to have a few bowls of this yummy desert. :D I love the sago in it.
Your green bean soup have so many treasures in there! The weather is indeed unbearable. :?
My plants are like dying soon. :| Your pandan looks great. :up:
I definitely don’t have green fingers =O
BTW, I have a 绿豆汤 post still sitting in my drafts. But it’s “ta-pow” from some dessert stall here. They mix it with barley…very nice when cold. Cold and “cooling”…beats off all the heat, right?
Is that bowl from Ikea? hee heee..
Goodness, is that really a dessert? I’ve never heard of anything like it! So much to learn about Chinese cuisine….
I would never have guessed this was sweet! And your pandan does look wonderful in the photo. Here’s to an up-and-coming green thumb! Thanks for sharing a great entry for Grow Your Own!
(My apologies for the previous comment. My toddler was playing on the computer…)
Looking at the picture I would not have guessed that this was a dessert. It looks good. Great photos!
I could never fully grasp this heaty/cooling concept. All I know is if it looks yummy, it’s gonna go straight into my tummy. Sago in green bean soup does indeed add a nice touch. Knowing me I’ll eat all the sago beads first. :lol:
What an interesting tip for us ladies! Who would of known? This soup looks super healthy.
Very interesting, first time I see and hear about those leaves… I tried to grow basil, thyme and mint on my window, but after couple of weeks from purchase, they are loosing all scent and flavour… especially basil
Love pandan. Have never had the leaves, though, only the extract; it smells so pretty and unusual.
Fine photos and a very intriguing recipe. Glad you are feeling better, Wiffy!
Hi noobcook, I visited your greenbean soup today!
It’s cooked uniquely by adding orange peel. I have done that only for my red bean soup, not yet in green bean.
Thanks for the ideas!
Mmm…that looks so very tasty!! I’ve got a batch simmering on the stove…green beans and a piece of tangerine peel. Nummy!
Hi Noobcook, it’s the first time today i’m trying your recipe. Just wondering what would be the outcome if i add the sago directly into the green bean soup (at the end), instead of cooking separately & adding into the soup?
Hi Eileen,
I think if you add the sago directly, the soup will become gluey and starchy. Usually people cook the sago separately.
Hi, just tried it a few weeks back at a friend’s gathering. Turned out nicely. Just wanna say thanks!. Loved the mixture of ingredients…
glad to hear that, thanks for your note :)