Mung Bean Pastries
Submitted by Monica
Thai mung bean pastries (khanom thuay) with a sweet mung bean flour base topped with coconut-rice flour cream and toasted yellow mung beans. A colorful, no-bake Thai dessert.
YIELD
2 dozenPREP
20 minCOOK
20 minREADY
40 minThese Thai pastries are a version of khanom thuay, a traditional two-layered sweet that’s all about texture contrast. A soft, jiggly bottom layer made from mung bean flour cooked with sugar and water, topped with a salty-sweet coconut milk and rice flour cream, then sprinkled with toasted yellow mung beans for crunch.
The mung bean layer comes together like a starch pudding. Mix the flour, sugar, food coloring, and cold water, strain it through cheesecloth to catch any lumps, then cook over medium heat while stirring constantly until it thickens enough to coat a spoon. That straining step is essential. Mung bean flour clumps stubbornly, and any solids left behind will show up as gritty bits in the finished pastry.
Dropping the mixture by spoonfuls onto wax paper creates individual rounds that set as they cool. Don’t let them touch or they’ll fuse into one sheet.
The coconut topping is a separate cook: rice flour, coconut milk, and salt heated together for ten minutes until thick, then spooned on top of each round while the base is still slightly tacky so the layers bond. Toasted yellow mung beans on top add a nutty crunch and traditional look.
Kitchen Tips
- Stir the mung bean mixture constantly while cooking. It goes from liquid to sticky fast, and it scorches easily on the bottom.
- Let the base rounds cool to room temperature before topping with the coconut layer. If they’re still hot, the topping slides off.
- Toast the yellow mung beans in a dry skillet over medium heat, shaking frequently. They burn quickly and go from golden to black in seconds.
- Chill for at least an hour before serving. The pastries firm up and the layers set properly.
Variations
- Use pandan extract instead of food coloring for an authentic green color and a fragrant, vanilla-like aroma.
- Replace the sugar with palm sugar for a deeper, more traditional Thai sweetness.
- Top with toasted sesame seeds instead of mung beans for a different nutty finish.
Ingredients
Directions
In a large bowl, combine the mung bean flour, sugar, food colouring and 2 cups cold water.
Stir until the flour is almost dissolved. Strain through cheesecloth into a pot.
Over medium heat, stir the liquid until all remaining solids are completely dissolved and the mixture is thick and sticky enough to coat a spoon.
Cool for 15 minutes.
Cover a baking sheet with waxed paper.
Drop the mixture by the spoonful onto the sheet.
Do not allow the circles to touch. Let cool to room temperature.
In a large bowl, combine the rice flour, milk and salt, stirring until dissolved.
Strain into a pot and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes.
Drop 1 teaspoon of this onto the cooling gelatin circles.
In a dry skillet, toast the yellow mung beans until they turn light brown.
Generously sprinkle onto the pastries and refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.
They will keep in the refrigerator for 2 or 3 days.
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