Nutty like Lola’s

If there’s one dish that reminds me of my childhood it’s tinunuang monggos (mung beans cooked in coconut cream). It used to be (or so it had seemed to me) the go-to dish when times were particularly trying — the equivalent of instant noodles these days. “God forbid the neighbors should drop by,” Ma would say. “Then they’ll see how poor we are.”

It was not always said in jest, but I am in no mood to be mushy. The mung beans were mushy enough. My lolas used to send bowlfuls of the stuff over, and the only way to tell which was from whom was that Lola Aday’s always had dried fish — the ones we called lansang, being the size of nails and just as appealing; barring that, it was one of the few vegetable dishes I liked as a child (I also liked mung beans as a sweet snack).

I did not always pay close attention to the details of my food, so it took me some time to realize that our tinunuang monggos was not quite the same as the ones I encountered outside of home. For one, we use lots of coconut cream, so the resulting dish is more stew than soup. For another, the mung beans are dry roasted before they are boiled, an extra step which not only reduces boiling time, but more importantly, brings out the nuttiness of the beans. It’s a distinctive aroma.

Anyway, you should try this recipe. Have I steered you wrong yet? It really is delicious just this side of different. And if the neighbors do drop in, you can always say it’s “fusion.”

Mung Bean Stew in Coconut Cream

Soak mung beans in water and remove any that float. You can sauté the spices in a little oil first if desired. If you can not get fresh coconut cream, use canned. Don’t shake the can prior to opening. Separate the thick upper half (equivalent of a first pressing) from the rest (the second).

• ½ cup mung beans
• 1 cup pure coconut cream (first pressing)
• 2 cups thin coconut cream (second pressing)


• large knob of ginger, sliced into strips
• 1 red onion, sliced
• 1 clove garlic, sliced
• 1 tomato, quartered
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• salt, to taste
• 2 medium slices fried fish, flaked
• 1 bunch malunggay leaves or ampalaya (bitter gourd) tops

1. Heat pan until smoking (no oil). Add mung beans and roast until brown, stirring constantly.
2. In a pot, boil beans with 4 cups water until soft, about 45 to 60 minutes (add extra water as needed).
3. Using a mortar and pestle, pound mung beans until mashed. Add back to pot along with ginger and thin coconut cream (second pressing). Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Add onion, garlic, tomato, fish, fish sauce, and pure coconut cream (first pressing). Simmer for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add some water if mixture is too thick. Salt to taste.
5. Add malunggay leaves or bitter gourd tops. Cook for another minute, then turn off heat.