Green tea mung bean paste is a popular bakery filling flavour that is found in any Asian cake and pastry shop. Learn how to make the filling from scratch using split mung beans and matcha powder!
With our recipe, you can prepare both sweet and savoury flavours, which are also vegan friendly!
To understand the recipe in-depth, we have done a good amount of research and tested many traditional dishes. In this article, we share our personal experiences and instructions for making matcha mung bean filling.
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What is Green Tea Mung Bean Paste?
Mung bean paste is a very popular ingredient all across Asia. The green tea white bean filling is made by combining both mung bean paste and green tea. Usually, it is made after the completion of mung bean paste, and the whole consistency will turn green when green tea powder is mixed into it.
Matcha mung bean paste is used in Mooncake filling in Chinese culture and Mochi filling in Japanese culture. Besides, you can find other variants like ang ku kueh, tau sar piah, steamed buns, baked buns, etc. these variations are created from Asian pastries and bakeries.
Like taro paste and lotus seed paste, the green tea mung bean paste is one of the popular flavours today for Asian pastries. However, the matcha version does not require any addition of oil and the usage of pressure cookers.
Matcha Powder Health Benefits
In ancient China, matcha or green tea powder was used as a remedy for fever, kidney issues, chest infection and more. Matcha powder has been popular because of its unique nutrient profile. Here are some of the benefits of matcha powder,
- Catechins of matcha powder are natural antioxidants that can cure many diseases.
- Shown to improve brain function.
- Helps with weight loss.
- Contributes to a healthy cardiovascular function.
- Antioxidant properties add to cancer prevention capabilities.
Even when using its leaves to make regular tea, green tea has many health benefits.
What Is It Used for?
The green tea mung bean paste filling recipe is commonly used in Asian bakeries. Therefore, you can use this puree to make green tea mooncake filling, steamed or baked buns, mochi, ang ku kueh, and tau sar piah.
Ingredients
The key ingredients to make the green tea mung bean paste recipe is matcha powder and mung beans. You can buy organic matcha green tea powder and mung beans online or at any local Asian store. These ingredients are ideal for making good matcha puree for filling cakes and pastries.
Tips on picking out ingredients
The best quality matcha powder should be shiny green, and the smell should be rich vegetal and pine aromas.
To choose the best beans from the shop, find brightly coloured, smooth, oval shapes without any softs spots or cracks.
Substitute
If you do not want to cook with mung beans in the recipe, you can use white bean paste (shiroan in Japanese) to make a sweet filling.
Often, we use dairy or dairy-free milk and whipped cream as key ingredients of the green tea mung bean paste. Hence, these should be easy to get in your nearby supermarket. You should use milk in this recipe as it enhances the flavour of matcha.
If you do not want to use any dairy product in the recipe, you can use plant-based milk.
Our recipe is one without oil as we recommend using a non-stick pan. However, if you do not have a non-stick pan, you can use some butter if you want to avoid oil. If you're going to use oil, then we recommend using neutral flavoured vegetable oil to make it.
How Smooth Do You Have to Blend the Beans?
After mixing the ingredients, you need to use a blender or immersion blender to mix the puree.
The matcha mung bean paste needs to be thick and smooth when mixing with a mixing spoon. However, be sure for it to not be too sticky when you mix it.
How to Store?
After cooking the green tea mung bean paste, you need to cool it down at room temperature.
You can cover it up in a container or jar and keep it for at least 1 week in the refrigerator.
To store it longer, transfer it to a freezer bag and take out all the air using a vacuum sealer. Then, pack them in a flat position as it will be easier to thaw the filling and save freezer space. You can keep it for at least 6 months.
Green Tea Mung Bean Paste Recipe | Matcha Filling for Mooncakes and Pastries
Ingredients
- 100 g split mung beans yields 300g cooked mung beans
- 300 ml water
- 1 tbsp matcha green tea powder
- 125 ml soy milk or other plant based milk
- 30 g all purpose flour or glutinous rice flour
- 3 tbsp warm water
To Make Sweet Mung Bean Recipe
- 100 g sugar
To Make Savory Mung Bean Recipe
- 75 g sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- 30 g fried shallots
Instructions
Cook The Mung Beans in A Steamer
- Soak the split beans for about 3 hours.
- Clean it 2 or 3 times and put it on in a steamer. Steam the beans for 25 minutes or more. Then mash beans thoroughly with a fork. Set them aside.
For Sweet Green Tea Mung Bean Paste
- Mix the matcha powder and hot water, add sugar, milk, and flour, and mix them with a whisk. Make use of a hand blender to combine the ingredients evenly.
- Transfer the paste to a non-stick and cook it at medium temperature until it dries. As the water evaporates, you will get a nice paste that will no longer stay sticky.
For Savory Green Tea Mung Bean Paste
- Mix green tea powder with warm water. Add sugar, salt, milk, fried shallots and flour and mix them well with a whisk. Use a hand blender to combine the ingredients evenly until smooth.
- Pour the mixture on a non-stick pan and keep the heat at medium temperature. Cook it until the paste is smooth and dry.
Nutrition
Calories have been calculated using an online calculator. Nutritional information offered on Honest Food Talks is for general information purposes and are only rough estimations.
If you would like, you can also add roasted white melon seeds to add more texture to the mixture. Foodpassionical has made a good video recipe on Youtube that shows the whole process.
Sweet vs Savoury Version
Both sweet and savoury versions of green tea mung bean paste are used in baking recipes. However, sweeter one tastes sweet because there is no salt you need to add. So, you can add sweet and salt in the savoury version, but you need to add shallots to make the puree spicy.
Christianna
Love to try.
Kia
Just what I wanted thanks!
Tait
Really enjoyed making this paste, would love to see more of these!