Dried mung beans are inexpensive but highly nutritious. Parboil and puree to create a creamy base for the stew. Drizzle in coconut cream before serving to add a delighful sweetness to the dish.
Cook’s notes
Puree? Yes. Think about how potatoes are boiled and mashed to make chowder. Mung beans are starchy too and can be used in pretty much the same way. The starch in the vegetable creates an opaque creamy liquid that can be as thick or as thin as you like depending on the amount of water you use.
Parboiling the mung beans softens the beans a little so you don’t ruin your blender’s blades. If, instead of a regular blender, you use an immersion blender, the parboiling will have to be extended until the beans are soft enough to squish between your fingers. Immersion blender blades are just not as sturdy as those of regular ones that come with a glass pitcher.
But pureeing parboiled beans is just the first step towards making a creamy stew. You’ll still need to simmer the mass with meat and sauteed spices until the starches break down into a paste.
As for the coconut cream drizzled over the stew before serving, know that it is not the same as coconut milk. For more on cooking with coconuts, see A guide to coconuts for eating, drinking and cooking.
Parboiling the mung beans softens the beans a little so you don’t ruin your blender’s blades. If, instead of a regular blender, you use an immersion blender, the parboiling will have to be extended until the beans are soft enough to squish between your fingers. Immersion blender blades are just not as sturdy as those of regular ones that come with a glass pitcher.
But pureeing parboiled beans is just the first step towards making a creamy stew. You’ll still need to simmer the mass with meat and sauteed spices until the starches break down into a paste.
As for the coconut cream drizzled over the stew before serving, know that it is not the same as coconut milk. For more on cooking with coconuts, see A guide to coconuts for eating, drinking and cooking.Pork and mung bean stew with coconut cream
Ingredients
- 150 grams dried mung beans (about 5 oz) green or yellow, your choice
- 3 tablespoons cooking oil
- 6 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 onion sliced
- 2 tomatoes diced
- 500 grams fatty pork (1.1 pounds) I recommend belly or shoulder, cut into small pieces
- 2 to 3 finger chilies
- fish sauce to taste
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 bunch green leafy vegetables spinach, kangkong (water / swamp spinach) or talbos ng kamote (sweet potato leaves)
- ¾ cup coconut cream
- cilantro to serve
- purple basil leaves to serve
Instructions
- Boil the mung beans in about two cups of water for 10 minutes. Pour the mung beans and water into a blender and process as finely or as coarsely as you like.
- Heat about three tablespoonfuls of cooking oil in a pan and sauté the garlic, onion and tomato, stirring often, until the vegetables start to soften.
- Add the pork to the pan and cook until no longer pink.
- Scrape the pureed mung beans off the blender and add to the pan. Pour in about six cups of water. Stir well.
- Add the chilies.
- Season with fish sauce and with freshly ground black pepper.
- Bring to the boil and simmer, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan every ten to 15 minutes, for about an hour or until the pork is tender.
- When the pork is done, add the leafy vegetables. Simmer for another five minutes.
- Ladle the stew into bowls. Drizzle with coconut cream. Top with snipped purple basil and cilantro. Serve hot.
Easy crispy pork and cabbage kimchi spring rolls