Comfort eating: Sauteed Mung Beans Recipe

Sauteed mung beans

Sauteed mung beans are one of the dishes I grew up with. Back home, it is a common staple when we are running low on budget, want to eat more vegetables or during the Lenten season (especially during Friday). Sauteed mung beans are easy to make, healthy, and economical. I don’t cook it as often as I used to eat it back home simply because I love experimenting with various cuisines when in the kitchen. But days when I feel a bit homesick and think of the yummy dishes my Mom or grandmother cooks back at home, makes me crave for the food items I grew up with, sauteed mung beans included!

As usual, this version is quite different to the recipe my Mom or grandmother used to make. For one, this has more meat in it because my husband likes meaty dishes. I also used Irish green cabbage since this is more accessible to me instead of bitter melon or moringa leaves we used to mix this up with at home. And lastly, I used dried smoked sardines instead of small prawns for added flavor!

Nonetheless, I think this dish turned out great and really nice to eat with a steaming boiled rice. I don’t think I’ll cook this for Lent since my version has a lot of meat in it, LOL! But then again, I think this will pass more as a food for fasting rather than a seafood meal at Crabby Jo’s, isn’t it?

Recipe:

1 cup of dried mung beans, soaked for at least 4 hours or overnight
1 big tomato, chopped
500 g pork mince
1/4 c dried sardine flakes
1/2 c green Irish cabbage, chopped into strips
2 garlic, minced
1 small onion, chopped
2 tbsp oil
1 ladleful of fish sauce
salt and pepper, to taste

Steps:

Drain the soaking liquid used for the dried mung beans. Place the soaked mung beans in a saucepan and add water. Make sure the amount of water is at the same level as the mung beans in the pan.
Place the pan over high heat and bring to a boil. Once the water starts boiling, reduce the heat enough for the liquid to a simmer. Cook for about 40 minutes or until the mung beans are soft. Set aside.
Take another pan and put on high heat. Pour the oil and saute the garlic until golden brown. Once it’s golden brown, add the onion and cook until starts to be translucent about 2 minutes.
Add the chopped tomatoes and cook until soft. Add the pork mince until cook through. Add the dried sardine flakes, fish sauce, and pepper.
Once the pork mince is cooked through, add the boiled mung beans (including the boiling liquid). Bring to a boil.
Adjust the taste and soup quantity accordingly by adding salt and/or more water as required.
Reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.
Remove from heat and serve with steaming white rice!

Note: Some version uses soup stock. If you prefer to use a stock cube, adjust the fish sauce content accordingly so it will not end up too salty.