Bubur Kacang Hijau (Indonesian Sweet Mung Bean Porridge) Recipe

Bubur kacang hijau (boo-boor kah-chunk hee-jaa-oo) is not a savoury poridge; it’s a sweet dessert.  Bubur or porridge can be a sweet or savoury dish in Indonesia.  I have known other kind of bubur kacang hijau that has more complex ingredients to company with such as black and white glutinous rices and a slice of bread.  We call it Bubur Kacang Hijau Madura, just because most of the sellers are Maduranese, an ethnic group who resides on a small island off the northeastern coast of Java.

Bubur kacang hijau sometimes is pronounced as bubur kacang ijo.  Well, I didn’t have time to make the complex version. So I made a version that was enriched with palm sugar (gula aren), flavoured with pandan leaves and touched of coconut milk at the end.  Palm sugar and coconut sugar (gula jawa/gula merah/gula kelapa) are used interchangeably in Indonesian cuisine.

Lately, I have seen organic coconut sugar and produced in the Philippines at one of Asian markets in Winnipeg.

Besides having this as dessert, it can be for a breakfast.  Indonesians don’t separate food for breakfast, lunch and dinner as typical Europeans or North Americans.  We eat rice 3 times a day and can be with the same vegetables and protein sources for all those times.

Some people like making this by combining and boiling all the ingredients together.  But, I like separating the coconut milk and mung bean.  So, I can save them for later in the fridge.

Bubur Kacang Hijau
– Indonesian Sweet Mung Bean Porridge –

Ingredients:
150 grams (1/3 lb) green mung beans
1.5 L (6 1/3 cups) water
250 grams (0.55 lb) coconut sugar (gula merah) or palm sugar (gula aren)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cm (0.4 inch) long ginger, peeled (optional as I don’t use this)
1 pandan leaf, cut into 2.5 cm (1 inch) long

Sauce
1 pandan leaf, cut into 2.5 cm (1 inch) long
250 mL thick coconut

Directions:
1. Wash mung beans thoroughly by soaking them in ample water. Any floating beans should be removed.

2. In a pot, combine 1.25 L, mung beans, 1 pandan leaf and 50 grams (1.76 oz) coocnut sugar for 2 hours.

3. After 2 hours, add the rest of coconut sugar to in the pot with the soaked mixture. Boil until the beans are soft. Add salt and mix. Simmer for another 10 minutes.

4. Sauce: Boil coconut milk and pandan leaf in the saucepan.

5. Serving: In a bowl, place the mung bean mixture. Drizzle with pandan coconut milk sauce over.

Cook’s Note:
You can always reduce the amount of coconut sugar, then before serving, you can drizzle over with sweetened condensed milk beside the pandan coconut milk sauce.