Finally! We moved, but it’s not all smooth sailing yet. We’re living out of boxes and we don’t have a kitchen yet. While our perfect kitchen is being built (which we will be talking about soon), I’m going to have to get crafty. I do have many plug-in appliances (rice cooker, toaster oven, panini press, waffle maker, microwave, etc.) so we’re still going to have a ball here. I think we’re going to be pleasantly surprised with how much I (or you) can do without a kitchen. (Gulp) Determined to eat well every single day without exceptions, here goes…
Chinese people believe that some foods are “cool” (or Yin) by nature, like cucumbers, crab, and mung beans. Others are “hot” (or Yang), like pineapple, alcohol, and spicy food. Eating too much of one type may throw off your chi. There are many other factors as well, and Eastern medicine doctors also tend to believe that a person may naturally lean one way or the other, needing to compensate with foods. When your chi is too hot, you may get nose bleeds, and I was that kid that was always getting nose bleeds. On several occasions, I had to sit at the nurse’s or in the principal’s office with a wad of tissue stuck up my nose.
Temperature can also effect your Yin-Yang balance, so of course my nose bleeds got more frequent in the summer. Hearing that I had to miss class again to tend to my nose, my mom would take away the lychees (hot foods) and try to force bitter melon (very cold food) on me. That kind of reasoning doesn’t get a kid to eat a very bitter vegetable, so my mom had to find other ways to fill me with “cool” foods. One that I happily drank up was Green Bean Soup (Lu Dou Tang), where the green beans are referring to mung beans (cold food). Plus, this soup can be served warm or cold, and in the summer, most people are drinking it cold for that refreshing feel. My mom even throws ice cubes in.
To throw you for another spin, this soup is sweet. It’s nothing like a Spanish Black Bean Soup or an Italian soup with Cannelloni beans. You’ll find this offered as dessert at some Chinese restaurants, but many Chinese also drink it as an afternoon summer snack, or even as breakfast in the morning.
This is a super easy recipe (ridiculously easy!) and doesn’t need to be exact. It’s also pretty healthy since mung beans are a great source of protein and dietary fiber (+ more) as long as you don’t add too much sugar, but I’ll leave that up to you.
Slow Cooker Green Bean Soup (Lu Dou Tang)
~about 8 servings
- 1 (340g) bag dried mung beans (scant 2 cups)
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar or to taste
Instructions –
1. Place mung beans in a large bowl. Fill with cold water. This is basically to wash it but if any duds float to the top, discard those. Drain the beans.
2. Place beans in the slow cooker. Add 8 cups cold water. Turn the slow cooker on high and set for 4 hours, but taste it after 2 hours. Some like it just cooked, some like the beans mushy. Cook it to your preference somewhere between 2 to 4 hours.
3. When it gets to your preference, stir in sugar and cook for another 20 minutes. Serve warm or chill and serve cold. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 1 week.
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I think this is so interesting! I’m learning a lot about hot and cold foods for my program in holistic nutrition. I know in Ayurvedic practices it is similar but the foods are called either expanding or contracting. Very neat post!
Another one of my childhood favs that my mom would make during summertime! I will have to try this this summer myself! Thanks for the recipe! 🙂
the yin-yang philosophy as regards food is very fascinating! no doubt my chi would be WAY off–the amount of spicy food i eat outweighs everything else by far. i wouldn’t mind a bowl or three of these beans though, especially if they’d balance things out for me. 🙂
Yum! My husband likes green bean soup, but I like red bean soup more. Could I just substitute red for green and cook it longer?
Koko, so interesting…expanding or contracting?
Grace, you need some cucumbers!
Janet, yes…there’s small red beans and big red beans but just test them once in a while…doesn’t need to be exact, just stop whenever you reach desired softness.
Very interesting and it looks delicious. I will have to give it a try. I love simple, nourishing meals. Thanks!
Have a great weekend 🙂
Beautiful pictures. Funny, this is what I’m having these few weeks to balance my heat level in my ‘system. I grew up eating this and always loved it.
I’m very yang! Problem is, I don’t like yin foods… at least, the usual ones suggested. Or, I like them cooked with garlic or chili peppers or whatnot. =) Perhaps I should give this a try… maybe on some shaved ice with condensed milk?
TS, I love a mix of green beans and red beans on shaved ice with condensed milk!
Jessica, as long as I have been doing Chinese food, I never thought of mung beans as a soup! Bean sprouts, yes and I do turn ’em into that quite often, let them grow in a jar…you know how I am sure. When I saw the heading I thought green runner beans. Big surprise:-)! Must try that though, we both would like it I am certain, and as we eat a lot of yang (chile peppers)we could use some yin to balance our chi!
Ain’t it fun when you hit a BAD restaurant? I did have a grin about your previous post! Going back soon????? Hah!
Old Doug, if only there was a way to balance a bad restaurant out. Ha!
Omgg, my parents always talk about the yin-yang hot/cold food stuff too!! I think my dad and I both have cold chi, and I’m convinced this is the reason why I can eat unearthly amounts of chocolate and not break out… Funny thing, I was talking about this in one of my previous posts about Godiva chocolixirs. Hehe, I didn’t think there were others out there with similar mindset. =D
I will definitely try this recipe with my new slow-cooker pot! My mom usually makes it by just boiling it with water though. Is there a difference in quality/result based on how it is made?
Eileen, my mom makes it on the stove top as well and I have not compared it back to back but I’m sure both yield very good results. I did it in the slow cooker because I don’t have a stove top right now. It will cook faster on the stove top than slow cooker, but I like the slow cooker because you don’t have to watch it. I can go take my doggie for a walk, etc….
I was the kid with nosebleeds too. Like scary, half hour gushers and then the embargo on yang foods would go into full force. And I loves green bean dessert soup. Especially when frozen into popsicles.
But Jessica, you’re missing the crucial secret ingredient…rue! Where’s the rue?! That’s the herb that gives the green bean soup its distinct flavor.
Slow Lorus, maybe rue is regional because no one in my family makes it that way. Where is your family from?
Hmm, maybe it is regional. Family is from Zhong San (Sun Yat-Sen’s hometown) in Guangzhou on Mom’s side and HK on Dad’s.
Hi, Jessica, the recipe is great. But, do you know why when you add sugar earlier the mungbeans can not be softened no matter how long you cook?
Leah, I don’t know and I just asked my mom and she doesn’t know why either.
i love to eat green bean soup. I even grow my own beans!
I grew up eating this in the summer and hong dou tang in the winter. I don’t know, I think it really works. Maybe it’s just me believing what my mom told me, but in the summer, having lu dou tang really worked! And in the winter when I was cold, hong dou tang came to the rescue and I was warmed up. For both soups, we put big tapioca balls (now it’s popular as boba) in it. I’m from Taiwan (Changhua/Hua Lien/Taipei). I don’t know what rue is? I don’t think my family ever made it with “rue”. Just mung beans and those sugar blocks that are layered brown and white. I’d cool it or throw ice cubes in before I ate it.