White Dew · Tea break · Damp-Heat
Lotus root & mung bean soup
Cooling mung bean soup with crisp, sweet lotus root slices — just right while White Dew days stay hot and sticky.
- 50 min
- Serves 3
- Simmer
- Easy
CoolingClears heat & dampEases thirst
Why it suits you: Damp-Heat means feeling stuffy and hot, with spots or a bitter taste, and Hong Kong still reaches 30°C at White Dew. Mung beans clear heat and damp, lotus root replenishes fluids, and a little tangerine peel protects the stomach — cooling but not cold.
Method
Prep 10 min · Cook 40 min- 1Rinse the mung beans and soak for 1 hour. Soften the tangerine peel and scrape off the pith.
- 2Scrub and peel the lotus root, slice thinly and keep in water so it doesn't darken.
- 3Bring the water to the boil, add the beans, lotus root and peel, boil for 10 minutes, then simmer over medium-low heat for 30 minutes until the beans split.
- 4Stir in the sugar until dissolved. Let it cool to warm before drinking — don't chill it.
Cautions
- Mung beans are cold — go easy if your digestion runs cold, during your period, or if you get loose stools.
Chef's tips
- Choose lotus root with both ends sealed by a node and unbroken skin, so no mud gets into the holes.
The TCM view
Mung beans are sweet and cold; they clear heat, relieve summer heat and drain water. Lotus root is sweet and cold when raw and milder once cooked; it clears heat, replenishes fluids and wakes the appetite. Aged tangerine peel, pungent and warm, moves qi, dries damp and tempers the cold beans. Cool, clearing and light.
