Ingredients:
For sweet soup:
1 cup dry mung beans
½ cup lotus seeds
½ tablespoon cornstarch
5 Chinese prunes or dates, pitted and sliced
1½ cup coconut milk
¼ teaspoon vanilla essence
1 tablespoon baking soda
Sugar to taste
5 cups water
Sticky rice:
1 cup dry mung beans
2 cups glutinous rice
Directions:
To make sweet soup, soak mung beans in 3 cups of water for 3 hours. Rub beans to remove hull and rinse well. Soak lotus seeds for 3 hours in hot water and baking soda. Rub lotus seeds to remove skins and rinse well. Remove the green shoots of the lotus seeds with a wooden pick. In a pot, cook lotus seeds in 2 cups of water for 1 hour. In a separate pot, combine mung beans, Chinese prunes and cornstarch with 5 cups of water. Cook for 45 minutes until soft. Add cooked lotus seeds and sugar. Cook for another 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Serve cold with sticky rice.
For sticky rice:
Soak mung beans in 3 cups of water for 3 hours. Rub beans to remove hull and rinse well. Steam mung beans until cooked and mash beans when cooled. Mix the mashed beans with uncooked glutinous rice and steam until rice is cooked. Cool the rice until grains do not stick to each other (this can be done by placing the rice on dish and air-dried). Serve cooled with the cold sweet soup.
