Sweet bean paste is an essential ingredient in many Asian treats, from pastries to buns. So today we’re going to show you how to make this delicious yellow mung bean filling from scratch. It’s easy!
Bean paste is like sweet puree from boiled beans, sugar, oil and salt. It’s not as fluffy as a mush, but more like it dense and flexible. It tastes sweet and nutty and has a wonderfully creamy texture.
Asian sweet bean fillings can be made with different types of beans. For example, red adzuki beans are a classic in Japan, while mung beans are very popular in China, the Philippines and Indonesia.
Sweet bean paste made from mung beans can come in two varieties, depending on what type of mung beans you start with.
It’s brownish if you use whole green mung beans or light yellow if you use it peeled mung beans.
Our recipe uses split mung beans to make one golden bean pastebut you can also make it with the greens if you like!
Yellow mung beans are mung beans that have had the outer green husk removed and the inner yellow flesh split. Tiny, light and tender mung beans are also known as yellow mongoose dal or moong Dal.
To prepare the paste you need to simmer the beans until soft, mash them and then Boil them in a pan until the bean pulp turns into a dense paste.
Adding oil to the bean paste helps make it creamy and cohesive, while sugar makes it sweet!
But if you want to reduce the added sugar and make the bean paste healthier, we’ve got you covered Option to use erythritol instead of sugar.
Erythritol is a natural and safe sweetener that we use all the time in our sugar-free recipes. It looks and tastes like sugar but has no calories, and you can mindlessly substitute it in a 1:1 ratio in almost any recipe. Try it!
Once ready, you can use this yellow bean paste as a filling for many wonderful Asian sweets. The standard ingredients yield two generous glassesso you’ve had enough!
You can try it immediately in our Filipino mung bean Hopia pastry or use it in the famous Chinese moon cakes. You can even use the paste to make high protein bean ice cream!
This flavorful and creamy bean filling also tastes great in steamed buns, baked buns and sesame puffs. With so many recipe ideas waiting for you, it’s time to get started!