Singapore-style Tau Suan 豆爽 (Mung Bean Dessert)

Being the eldest grandchild on my maternal family tree, I had a great childhood staying with my maternal grandparents until the age of 6. Both being great cooks (from different dialect groups), I was always fed with loads of goodies. 

My grandmother (阿嬤 - Ah Ma) always bring me to the market with her. Although I dislike the wet, stinky, icky, fishy water, splashing about my tiny feet, the probability of visiting a dessert stall after marketing never fail to propel me on. 

While Ah Ma loves a bowl of sticky Teochew Yam Paste, I love a bowl of slippery Tau Suan. I probably wanted a mountain tall of Ice Kachang but Ah Ma wouldn't had let me have it and this is the next best option. Muahaha! It is a real treat when Ah Ma buys me additional 油条 aka "油炸鬼" (Yau Char Kuai in Cantonese, or You Char Kway in Hokkien), which is essentially a fried dough fritter, to dip into the gooey goodness (sometimes I get to dip into Ah Ma's kopi 😋).

 

Singapore-style Mung Bean Dessert (Tau Suan 豆爽)

 200g     Split Mung Beans
   10       Pandan Leaves
1 litre     Water
   80g     Palm or Rock Sugar, adjust accordingly to preference

Thickening Agent
   10g     Sweet Potato / Water Chestnut / Potato Flour
 100g     Water

1. Soak the Split Mung Beans for about 30 mins in warm water. Drain and reserve.

2. Cut 3 of the Pandan leaves into 2-3 inches and steam together with the mung beans over roaring water for about 30 mins or until soft.

3. Meanwhile, tie the remaining 7 Pandan leaves into a bundle and add to the water, together with the Cane sugar. Bring the water to a boil before turning down the heat. Maintain at a simmer.

4. When the beans have soften, remove the pandan leaves pieces, add beans to the simmering syrup. 

5. Have the thickening slurry on standby, give it a stir and slowly add into the syrup. While adding, stop slightly before your desired consistency as the mixture has a tendency to continue thickening after you stop. If it becomes too thick, add a little water to loosen it.

6. Heat off and serve as it is or with you-char-kway!

Thoughts: Being away from home makes me appreciate the smallest things in life, such as Tau Suan. It is one of the most popular traditional Chinese dessert in Singapore yet it still doesn't garner as much attention nor does it cost as exorbitantly much as a Korean Bingsu. Sad to say, Tau Suan isn't something most people give much thought to.

If you're an overseas Singaporeans like me, the good news is Tau Suan is very simple to prepare at home. But the bad news is, depending on where you are, the ingredients might not be the easiest thing to source for. 

The main ingredient, split mung beans, should be available at organic health stores if it isn't a common offering at your local supermarkets or Asian marts. Pandan leaves can be a real headache. Luckily, while I couldn't always get the fresh ones, most of the Asian marts carry the frozen ones. Palm sugar is relatively easy to find, but even if you can't find it, white sugar is an acceptable substitute. My preferred thickening agent is sweet potato flour but the other stated options will work fairly well. 

For the you-char-kway, I've tried making it in the past. Hrm... it's quite a long process so I'll suggest purchasing them whenever possible (thank goodness we get the frozen ones here too). ☺️

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