This Sweet Mung Bean and Sago Soup is a Chinese dessert with a Southeast Asian touch. Pandan leaves, sago, and coconut milk makes it even more flavorful.
The Chinese have a whole range of sweet soups. Known as tong sui in Cantonese, these soups are usually served at the end of a meal. They are light and refreshing making them wonderful low fat summer desserts. Most are served warm but some are delicious chilled.
Mung beans, also known as green beans are small cylindrical beans with a bright green color. They can be used whole, split, or hulled. Whole beans are usually boiled. They are also germinated to produce bean sprouts. Split and hulled mung beans are light yellow in color and often made into a paste for pancakes or filling. Mung bean starch is extracted to make transparent cellophane noodles, also known as bean threads or glass noodles.
Sweet Mung Bean and Sago Soup is considered cooling and is very easy to prepare. They cook a little faster than red or adzuki beans. The addition of pandan leaves, sago, and coconut milk is a Southeast Asian enhancement to the Chinese original. Please also check out my Sweet Red Bean Soup recipe.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup mung beans (rinsed and soaked for at least 2 hours, drained) (220g)
- ¾ cup brown sugar ** (135g)
- 6 cups water (1.5liters)
- 2 pandan leaves (rinsed and knotted)
- ½ cup sago / tapioca pearls, soaked for 10 minutes, rinsed and drained (40g)
- 1 cup coconut milk (240ml)
INSTRUCTIONS
- In a large pot, combine mung beans, brown sugar, water, and pandan leaves. Bring to a boil, redude heat and allow to simmer for 30 minutes or until mung bean splits open.
- Add sago pearls and coconut milk. Simmer for another 8 minutes or until sago pearls turn translucent. Add a little water if soup gets too thick.
- Serve warm or chilled.
NOTES
NUTRITION
NOTE: New pictures were added to this post on April 14th, 2016.
Enjoy…..and have a wonderful day! 😎
Gertrude says
June 20, 2011 at 10:53 amMy mom used to make this sweet soup for us and she will add gula melaka to it. Seeing yours makes me crave for some 🙂
Biren says
June 20, 2011 at 11:05 amYes, Gertrude, gula Melaka is the best! I am saving mine for another dessert. 🙂
Anncoo says
June 20, 2011 at 11:02 amBiren, this is my favorite too! I found you can cook many yummy “thong shui” to my liking 🙂 I must wait at your door step everyday 🙂
Biren says
June 20, 2011 at 11:06 amYou are so sweet Ann! I will send it to your house if we live close to each other. 🙂
Shilpa says
June 20, 2011 at 11:12 amNever tried a sweet soup before… I like the sound of green beans, so will give this a go too.. sounds really interesting! I love sago…In India we have it cooked with potatoes and peanuts as savoury and with milk and sugar for a dessert. I’ll have to give this soup a go.
-Shilpa
Sanjeeta kk says
June 20, 2011 at 11:23 amLove the healthy and filling lentil soup!
Erin @ Dinners, Dishes and Desserts says
June 20, 2011 at 12:44 pmGreat soup Biren!
Adora's Box says
June 20, 2011 at 1:02 pmI love this, Biren. My husband likes it with coconut milk. I like it with milk. Comfort food.
Biren says
June 20, 2011 at 10:44 pmNow and then I get a craving for this soup. I will have to try it with milk next time. 🙂
Katherine Martinelli says
June 20, 2011 at 1:17 pmWow, I have never had anything quite like this, especially for dessert! I loved reading about it. Thanks.
tigerfish says
June 20, 2011 at 5:25 pmMung bean is cooling for summer while red bean warms us up during winter. This is good summer tong sui 🙂
Nami @ Just One Cookbook says
June 20, 2011 at 5:48 pmThis is one of three kinds of sweet soups at my favorite Chinese restaurant that offers as a dessert. I prefer red beans but I still like this one too! Yummy!! You know everything I want to eat. 🙂
Biren says
June 20, 2011 at 10:48 pmBoth the red bean and mung bean soups are delicious. Red beans are considered warming while green beans are cooling and usually eaten when it is hot outside. 🙂
Kay Ecker says
June 20, 2011 at 5:56 pmBiren,
I’ve never had soup like this. It looks so good! I’d never heard of Sago too, thanks for the education:-). Your photo came out beautifully!
Kay
Biren says
June 20, 2011 at 10:54 pmSago pearls are similar to tapioca pearls and can be used interchangeably although they are made from different starches. Sago is extracted from the sago palm.
msihua says
June 20, 2011 at 8:56 pmThat looks delicious! I grew up on a lot of tong sui!! 🙂
Jeannie says
June 20, 2011 at 9:19 pmThis is another sweet soup that reminds me of childhood days! Unfortunately my boys are not into this so I don’t get to eat this as often as I would like.
Biren says
June 20, 2011 at 10:55 pmMy boys are also not too fond of tong sui. I normally make a small batch for hubby and me. 🙂
prathibha says
June 20, 2011 at 9:24 pmloved d bowls,soup n presentation…looks yumm
torviewtoronto says
June 20, 2011 at 9:47 pmthis looks good we have similar sweet soup with mung bean
this looks flavourful delicious
Blackswan says
June 20, 2011 at 10:04 pmDidn’t know this is called mung bean soup 🙂 We just call it green bean soup & hubby loves this. Have u tried adding rice in it? Some people add little grains of rice into this dessert.
Biren says
June 20, 2011 at 10:57 pmSome ingredients are named differently here. I used to call it green beans too. 🙂
No, I have never tried addig rice to it. I imagine it must be like a porridge.
Lindsey@Lindselicious says
June 20, 2011 at 11:57 pmThis looks so interesting, I want to try it! Biren you are always introducing me to great new dishes.
Jill@MadAboutMacarons says
June 21, 2011 at 3:35 amBiren, thank you for sharing this: I have so much to learn about Chinese cuisine. This sweet soup looks so different – I’d love to try it, warm or cold sounds equally fabulous.
denise @ bread expectations says
June 21, 2011 at 3:51 amHi Biren 🙂
Green bean soup is hubby’s favourite Asian sweet soup/porridge. He loves it with santan, but I prefer it plain, scented with lots of pandan of course! The texture of your beans looks absolutely perfect. I would love a chilled bowl right now – it’s a sweltering afternoon *phew*
Biren says
June 21, 2011 at 10:22 amHi Denise! So good of you to visit. I missed you and I hope you are doing well. 🙂
The weather here continues to be unpredictable. Spring was cold and this summer has been exceptionally rainy. I needed something familiar and this dessert came to mind. This is my mom’s concoction with coconut milk and sago and I love it. Boys are not too keen on tong sui but I’m making it for me. Oh, I can imagine the sweltering tropical heat. Just thinking of it makes me perspire. Definitely a chilled version is preferred over there.
Belinda @zomppa says
June 21, 2011 at 4:31 amI never knew how this was made – my dad loves this stuff!
Joanne says
June 21, 2011 at 7:36 amI really love the idea of soup as dessert! This sounds incredibly delicious!
Peggy says
June 21, 2011 at 8:42 amI don’t think I’ve ever made/eaten a soup with mung beans, but this sounds absolutely delicious! Definitely the perfect thing for a hot summer day =)
Tina (PinayInTexas) says
June 21, 2011 at 10:22 amHmmmm…I love sweet mung bean soup. In the Philippines, we use evaporated milk. Haven’t tried it with sago, but I’m sure it tastes even better.
kristy says
June 21, 2011 at 10:38 amYou just tempted me to make some tong sui tomorrow. Yummm…. Have a lovely day.
Kristy
Angie's Recipes says
June 21, 2011 at 10:53 amOne of the must-have in hot and humid summer days after an afternoon nap!
Lyn says
June 21, 2011 at 11:11 amThis is one of my favs sweet soup and I always cook this at home if the weather gets too humid or when my hubby or girls had too much heaty food. I don’t add coconut milk but will add some sweet potatoes sometimes if I can get nice ones from the wet market 🙂
Hey Biren, I think we’re somehow quite alike when it comes to food! I love my mung bean soup hot when just cooked and chilled when the whole pot had cooled down! 😀
Lyndsey ~The Tiny Skillet~ says
June 21, 2011 at 11:40 amThis looks very interesting, I’ve never had it before. Do you eat it as a dessert? It would be fun to try!
Magic of Spice says
June 21, 2011 at 4:10 pmI love mung bean and know I would love this soup! I had something once I believe was similar but it was awhile back and I never tried to recreate it, but this I must 🙂
rebecca says
June 21, 2011 at 5:53 pmgreat soup hubby loves mung dal nice to see a new way of preparing it
Parsley Sage says
June 21, 2011 at 7:33 pmThis is pretty cool! I’ve never had a dessert soup before. Looks pretty easy to do too 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Lisa H. says
June 21, 2011 at 8:57 pmahhhhhh….Mung beans porridge… my all time favourite.
I love everything with mung beans…
Manu says
June 21, 2011 at 9:15 pmSuch an innovative dessert! I have never had sweet soup like this! It sounds delicious and healthy! Thanks for sharing it Biren! 🙂
purabi naha says
June 22, 2011 at 5:08 amBiren, really?! I didn’t know that something like this even exists…we have the usual “dal” always…but this sweet soup sounds so unique!
Tiffany says
June 22, 2011 at 6:55 amHow interesting! Sounds yummy… also what are pandan leaves?
kitchen flavours says
June 22, 2011 at 8:37 amOne of my family’s favourites! Love it warm and good when cold too!
Looks delicious!
Pepy@Indonesia Eats says
June 22, 2011 at 9:17 pmYummm…This is often eaten during Ramadan in Indonesia when people break the fasting. My family used to add jackfruit, banana, buah atap/atap seed and sweet potato or squash 🙂
Maya@Foodiva's Kitchen says
June 28, 2011 at 12:00 amBiren, I haven’t had this in a while because I’m waiting for my mum to make it! Can you believe after years of eating this lovely dessert, I have yet to cook it myself? I like it with both pandan and santan flavors, and I like to eat it cold ;-). Gotta call my mum….
Xiaolu @ 6 Bittersweets says
June 28, 2011 at 11:59 amI love sweet mung bean soup though I’ve never tried sago in it. Great idea!
Ruby says
February 11, 2012 at 3:07 pmSo interesting! Looking at it, I have a hard time imagining that it’s sweet. So different from anything I’ve ever tried – very intriguing. :-)4hd7
Biren says
February 11, 2012 at 3:12 pmThis is my goto dessert when I need something sweet and warm. It is especially good with the coconut milk and sago. The coconut milk is actually optional but I much prefer to add it in.
Ruby says
February 11, 2012 at 3:08 pm4hd7 was the captcha code. No idea how it jumped onto the comment form… 😉
Biren says
February 11, 2012 at 3:13 pmI was wondering about that. I thought perhaps it is a secret code I was supposed to decipher. 😉
skip to malou says
February 12, 2012 at 8:41 pmI love mung bean but I haven’t tried it sweet. Though we have a sweet version too but I don’t know why i haven’t tried it so far.
Im sure I will like this kind too.
malou
vanessa says
May 29, 2012 at 3:42 amhow can i tell if the sugar is gula melaka? I live in canada and gula melaka is hard to find!
Biren says
June 2, 2012 at 10:40 amGula Melaka usually comes in solid cylinders but unfortunately it is hard to tell if it is not labeled. Any palm sugar or brown sugar would work for this recipe.
sailaja says
February 21, 2013 at 8:17 pmAny substitute for pandan leaves as i don’t have?
Biren says
February 22, 2013 at 9:25 amI am afraid there is no substitute for pandan in this particular recipe. You can certainly omit it totally and it will still taste good though not as fragrant.
Amallia @DesireToEat says
November 5, 2014 at 7:15 amThis is my favorite, very famous in Indonesia. I always made this at least once a week, perfect for anytime 🙂
Linda says
November 8, 2014 at 8:42 pmI like to eat it warm during the cold months and chilled during the warm months. 🙂
Patl says
January 16, 2017 at 6:05 pmI just made this. Every now and then I crave for my local dessert. My daughter didn’t like it then but today she tried again and ate two bowls of it. She gave me a thumbs up. I added two piece of clove just like the way my mom makes it.
Linda says
January 18, 2017 at 8:10 amI know what you mean. I will make this or Sweet Red Bean Soup whent he craving hits. Glad to hear your daughter enjoyed it as well. I will try adding the cloves the next time. 🙂
SIJUN PAN says
May 12, 2017 at 7:17 amHi Linda, I am just wondering should I use orange peels to increase the flavour?? and also does the sago become a hard texture after it is refrigerated?
Cheers,
Sijun
Linda says
May 17, 2017 at 10:44 amOrange peels work better with Sweet Red Bean Soup. No, the sago will not become hard since it is immerse in liquid.