Mung Bean
绿豆 · Lǜ Dòu
Cools summer heat and clears toxins
What it does
Mung bean cools summer-heat with vexation and thirst, clears low-grade infections, and famously helps neutralize food and drug poisoning. In TCM, it's sweet, cold, and gentle, suited for daily food-medicine use. Common in summer dim sum like Lv Dou Tang (mung bean soup). Also used topically as a paste for hot skin sores.
How to take it
Soak 30–60g mung beans for 4 hours, then simmer in 4 cups water for 30 minutes. Sip the cooling liquid warm or chilled. Add rock sugar for a sweet drink, or use unsweetened in savory broths.
Sip cold mung bean soup during hot weather for summer-heat relief
Sprout fresh seeds for crunchy salad toppings. Grind into mung bean flour for noodles and pancakes. Cook into a thick paste for buns and desserts.
Toss mung bean sprouts into stir-fries and salads for a crunchy bite
Safety
- Very safe as food. Always cooked, never raw
- Cooling. Skip if you have weak digestion or chronic diarrhea
- May reduce absorption of some medications. Take 2 hours apart
- If using as poisoning antidote, still call poison control first
- Talk to your doctor before starting medicinal use, especially if you take medication
Where it comes from
Mung bean (Vigna radiata) has been a Chinese staple grain for over 4,000 years. In TCM dietary therapy, it's considered the most cooling of the common beans, perfect for summer heat. Lv Dou Tang (cold mung bean soup) is a common Chinese summer drink. Mung bean paste is a key filling in mooncakes. Beyond food, classical TCM specifically cites it as an antidote to food and drug poisoning, including arsenic, mercury, and aconite.