Easy, Healthy Mung Bean Cakes 低糖少油 绿豆糕

Happy 端午节 (duān wǔ jié) Dragon Boat Festival! We celebrate Dragon Boat Festival on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month as the beginning of summer. This is always a particularly meaningful holiday in my family because it’s my dad’s lunar birthday. It’s also one of my favorite Chinese holidays because it’s totally centered around food. This year, I’d like to introduce you to a traditional Chinese summer dessert for the holiday: 绿豆糕 (lǜ dòu gāo) mung bean cakes!

If you’re thinking that beans and cake don’t belong in the same sentence, hear me out. Mung bean cakes 绿豆糕 are delicate, pretty pastries that started out as imperial desserts 贡品 (gòng pín) in the 清朝 Qīng dynasty. Back then, only emperors and nobles could have them. They are soft and creamy, lightly sweet and refreshing. And my version is so healthy that it’s ok to have several!

端午节快乐！平时我们家过端午节就像过年一样，因为端午节是爸爸的农历生日。今年特殊时期无法回家庆祝。我做的粽子目前还不敢和爸爸的比，我就换一个夏天美食糕点，献上一盘美味健康的端午绿豆糕！我的绿豆糕，颜色天然碧绿，低糖少油，口感细腻软绵，清热祛暑。有颜值、有口感、营养价值高。而且，与网上畅销苏州老字号稻香村的相比，我的绿豆糕还物美价廉，简单易学。今年您也不妨换上我的独家秘诀绿豆糕，和我一起享受清朝贡品！一起感受绿豆糕的神奇！

Healthy Mung Beans

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Mung beans (aka moong beans) are little green nutrient powerhouses. In 中药 (zhōng yào) traditional Chinese medicine, they’re valued for their ability to 祛暑 (qū shǔ) or cool down your body. As the temperature heats up, mung bean desserts start flying off the shelves.

Mung beans are high fiber and high protein, so they’re super satisfying. In short, these mung bean cakes might be the least guilty dessert in existence. I would go so far as to say that this dessert is good for you!

Ingredients for Mung Bean Cakes

These mung bean cakes look fancy and complicated but are actually incredibly simple. The color is all natural — I use frozen spinach to highlight the natural green color of the mung beans! Don’t be alarmed; the cakes don’t taste like spinach at all.

You can make them with a subtle coconut flavor like I did, or amp it up with a few Tbsp of powdered coconut or rehydrated unsweetened coconut flakes. Or let the delicious subtly sweet mung bean flavor stand on its own. Alternatively, try sesame oil for a homage to Wuhan’s famous 曹祥泰 Cáo Xiáng Tài. They’ve been making mung bean cakes by hand since the Qing dynasty in 1884, and people wait in line all night to buy a few of their mung bean cakes before the holiday!

All you need is:

• 1.75 cups whole mung beans
• liquid and a small amount of fat:
  • for original flavor: 1 cup soy milk (my easy Vitamix soy milk) + 2 Tbsp neutral oil like avocado or canola
  • for a subtle coconut flavor: 1 cup coconut water + 4-6 Tbsp canned coconut milk
  • for sesame flavor: 1 cup soy milk + 2 Tbsp sesame oil
• 1 cup (3 oz) frozen spinach
• 3 Tbsp honey, I used organic raw honey: substitute sugar or agave syrup for vegan
• a pinch of salt

Necessary Equipment

Vitamix (or other high-powered blender)

To make a fine paste for royal mung bean cakes, we need a high-powered blender like the Vitamix. This recipe relies on making a thick, smooth paste for our healthy mung bean cakes to taste rich and luxurious. I tested several other methods, and this is the only that achieved that perfectly smooth texture.

Cake press

To make the intricate designs of imperial Chinese mung bean cakes 绿豆糕, we need a moon cake mold or press. I bought mine on Amazon. Although I only received 3 design plates of the advertised 6, I’m super happy with the price and outcome. Stay tuned in the fall for another cake recipe: my take on 月饼 (yuè bǐng) mooncakes for 中秋节 (zhōng qiū jié) Mid Autumn Festival.

Although Yamibuy sells pre-made mung bean cakes, even with the cake press this recipe costs a fraction of the price to make. There are two types of mung bean cake molds, a wooden paddle and a plastic press. Get the plastic press; it’s WAY easier.

Instant Pot pressure cooker

It’s much easier and more reliable to steam beans in an electric pressure cooker like the Instant Pot. You could use a regular steamer, but given the long cooking time, make sure you add water partway through to prevent burning.

Nonstick pan and spatula

You’ll need a nonstick pan and spatula to cook off the liquid from the mung bean paste. Make sure you have a rigid spatula like these wooden ones so you can scrape the dough up. Silicone is too flimsy for our purposes.

Process for Mung Bean Cakes

Wash, soak, steam

Start by washing and soaking the mung beans overnight at room temperature. For better texture and nutritional value, soak for 12-24 hours. Transfer them to a heat-safe bowl, add a splash of water to improve texture, and steam till soft.

I used homemade frozen spinach for color. The flavor disappears, but it gives a huge boost in visual appeal. If you’re using commercial frozen spinach, microwave it according to package instructions. Alternatively, you could use fresh.

Put the Vitamix to work

We need the Vitamix and tamper for the next step. Add the steamed mung beans, spinach, sweetener, and salt to the blender jar. Starting on low speed and quickly increasing to max, keep rotating the tamper so the blades pull in the solids.

Because our mung bean paste doesn’t have much fat content, it’s important to help keep the contents of the blender moving. If the blender needs a little help, add in a few Tbsp of additional liquid. However, it’s best to use as little liquid as possible, otherwise you’ll be stirring for a very long time in the next step.

Cook to drive off excess moisture

At this point, you should have a thick, smooth, bright green mung bean paste. Spoon it into a dry nonstick pan, and cook it on low (220°F = 3.5 on my Duxtop induction), stirring frequently. Try not to let the mung bean paste brown; we worked hard to achieve that brilliant green color.

During the cooking process, the mung bean paste will transition from a smooth, spreadable paste into a thick, sticky mass a little like… cement or thinset mortar. It will be difficult to stir and seem pretty hopeless, but please have faith! Shortly thereafter, the cement paste will form a sticky dough.

We’re looking for the mung bean paste to form a dough ball that stays together you stir, like pate a choux dough. It took me about 25 minutes to get to this point, but we finally have a mung bean dough that — although rather gooey — sticks to itself more than it sticks to the spatula.

Rejoice, we’re done cooking! Transfer your sticky mung bean dough ball into a bowl, press a piece of plastic wrap against the top, and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.

Pretty molds make pretty mung bean cakes

This is the really fun part! After the mung bean dough is thoroughly chilled, it will have the consistency of play-dough. To keep sizes consistent, I weighed out 30g (1 oz) portions and rolled them into a smooth ball. Place the moon cake press over the dough ball and press down (onto a flat surface) for a perfect mung bean cake.

This part is easier to explain in video than in words, so check out my video demonstration for the full details!

Mung Bean Cakes for Dragon Boat Festival 端午绿豆糕

We hope you enjoy this healthy but satisfying take on the classic Chinese dessert! Do you have a favorite food for Dragon Boat Festival, or a favorite summer holiday food tradition? Let us know in the comments below, and please share your version on Instagram with #thericelover!

Healthy Mung Bean Cakes 低糖少油 绿豆糕

Mung bean cakes 绿豆糕 are a beautiful dessert that originated in the imperial kitchens of Qing dynasty China. My version is creamy and decadent but guilt-free, healthy, and surprisingly easy.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Resting Time 18 hours hrs

Total Time 19 hours hrs

Course Dessert

Cuisine Chinese

Servings 20 cakes

Calories 82 kcal

Equipment

• Instant Pot or pressure cooker 电压力锅
• Vitamix or high-powered blender with tamper 维他密斯搅拌器
• Mooncake press (50g capacity), see notes 月饼摸具（建议塑料手压型）
• Steamer insert 蒸格
• Nonstick pan (10"+) and wooden spatula 不粘锅及木头锅铲

Ingredients

  

• 1¾ cups mung beans dry 绿豆，400克
• 4 Tbsp coconut milk see note 1 for alternative flavors 椰浆，60克
• 1 cup coconut water see note 1 for alternative flavors 椰子水，230克
• 3 oz frozen spinach defrosted, see note 2 速冻菠菜，100克
• 3 Tbsp honey see note 3 蜂蜜，60克
• 1 pinch salt 食用盐，少许

Instructions

 

• Rinse and pick through mung beans. Soak for 12-24 hours in 10 cups of water.

  绿豆冲洗干净，泡12-24小时
• Rinse and drain soaked mung beans. Add mung beans and 4 oz of water into a heat safe bowl, and steam in an Instant Pot on high pressure for 14 minutes.

  泡好的绿豆沥干水，再次冲洗。绿豆放入碗中，加120克清水，Instant Pot电压力锅 高压隔水蒸14分钟。
  
• Place all ingredients in the Vitamix blender jar. Starting on low speed, quickly increase to max speed, stirring continuously with the tamper until it forms a completely smooth, bright green paste.

  将所有食材倒入维他密斯搅拌器。从低速快速提升到最高速，使用搅拌棒不停将固体推向料理机的刀片，打成细腻的绿豆沙。
  
• Heat nonstick pan on low heat (220°F = 105°C). Cook mung bean paste to remove excess moisture, stirring frequently to prevent browning. The paste will tighten up into a sticky dough (~25 min).

  绿豆沙倒入不粘锅，小火（105°）翻炒把水分炒干。一定要常常搅拌以免糊锅。中途会形成水泥状态，特别难搅拌，不要放弃！（约25分钟即可）
  
• The mung bean dough is done when it forms a ball that sticks to itself and not to the pan. Transfer to a bowl, press a piece of plastic wrap against the top of the dough, and refrigerate until completely chilled.

  绿豆沙炒至成团后，倒入碗中，贴上保鲜膜（以免成皮）。放入冰箱彻底冷却。
  
• The refrigerated dough should have the consistency of play-dough. Weigh the mung bean cake dough into equal 30g (1 oz) portions, and roll into smooth balls. Press each dough ball with the mooncake press to form individual mung bean cakes.

  绿豆面分30克一份，揉成面团。用月饼摸具压出美丽可口的绿豆糕！
  

Video

Notes

Recipe Notes

1. As written, this recipe makes mung beans cakes with a subtle coconut flavor
   1. To create a bolder coconut flavor: add a few Tbsp of powdered coconut or unsweetened coconut flakes (rehydrated)
   2. For original mung bean flavor: replace coconut milk with 2 Tbsp of neutral oil like avocado or canola; replace coconut water with plain soy milk
   3. For sesame flavor: replace coconut milk with 2 Tbsp of sesame oil; replace coconut water with plain soy milk
2. Substitute frozen spinach with ~8 oz of fresh spinach. Homemade frozen spinach is safe to use from frozen, see my post on Mung Bean Cakes for details. Commercial frozen spinach should be microwaved according to package directions before using. 
3. For vegan mung bean cakes: substitute agave syrup or pure cane sugar.

Ingredient & Equipment Notes

• Mung beans (aka moong beans) are available online here or at your local Asian grocery.
• Plastic moon cake presses are available inexpensively online. I used this one from Amazon.
• A high-powered blender with a tamper like the Vitamix is necessary to create the creamy, decadent texture.
• Steaming the beans with an Instant Pot is more reliable and way faster than regular steaming.
• The recipe also works with adzuki beans, simply eliminate the spinach for purple adzuki cakes.

Keyword healthy, low glycemic