Red beans also have a very romantic name: love bean. In terms of food ingredients, red beans are highly nutritious and have many health benefits. So, how can red beans be made delicious? Today, I will recommend several creative ways to eat red beans. Come and take a look!
Diverse Ways to Cook Red Beans
1. Red Bean and Milk Sago Pudding
Ingredients: Red beans, milk, sago, white sugar.
Specific Steps:
① Soak the red beans in cold water for 6-8 hours. Discard the water and add fresh water to cook in a rice cooker's "cook rice" mode until done. Add white sugar and stir-fry until well mixed. Cook the red beans until the liquid is absorbed to make honeyed red beans, then set aside.
② Bring a pot of water to a boil, add the sago, and stir, being careful not to let it stick to the pot. Cook for about ten minutes, then turn off the heat and cover to let it steep until the sago turns transparent. If there is still a white center in the sago, repeat the cooking and steeping process. Once cooked, rinse the sago under cold water and filter it through a mesh strainer for later use.
③ Pour the milk into a pot and heat it up. Add the sago and stir well. Ladle into bowls.
④ Add the honeyed red beans to the bowls one spoonful at a time and arrange them nicely. Stir before eating to prevent the red beans from scattering, which would not look good for photos.
Tips:
1. When cooking red beans in a rice cooker, if they are not soft enough, you can cook them twice. I cooked them twice, and they were a bit mushy, but the texture was delicious.
2. You can make a large batch of honeyed red beans at once and store it in the refrigerator for later use.
3. If you prefer cold drinks, the milk does not need to be heated.
2. Red Bean and Jujube Soup
Ingredients: 100g red beans, 10 jujubes, 1500g water.
Specific Steps:
Clean the red beans and soak them in water for about 30 minutes. Clean the jujubes and add them to the water with the red beans. Bring to a boil over high heat, then simmer over low heat until the red beans are cooked. It can then be eaten. This soup is nourishing, strengthens the body, strengthens the spleen and stomach, replenishes qi, nourishes the blood, calms the mind, promotes urination, and detoxifies.
3. Walnut and Red Bean Pie
Ingredients: 200g cake flour, 20g white sugar, 80g butter, 70g water, 100g walnuts, 20g milk, appropriate amount of red bean paste.
Specific Steps:
① Mix the flour and sugar evenly. Add softened butter and knead until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
② Add water and knead into a dough. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for half an hour.
④ Roll the chilled dough into a 3mm thick pie crust.
⑤ Place it in a fluted pie pan, press it down firmly, trim off the excess, and poke some holes in the bottom with a fork.
⑥ Mix the walnuts with milk and red bean paste, then fill the pie pan.
⑦ Preheat the oven to 180°C and bake for about 30 minutes.
4. Red Bean Fermented Rice Cake
Ingredients: 500g rice, 250g water, 80g sugar, 8g yeast, 70g warm water, 2 tablespoons of fermented rice, appropriate amount of red bean paste.
Specific Steps:
① Soak the rice overnight and blend into a rice slurry.
② Take 125g of the slurry, heat in the microwave for one minute, mix well, then add 300g of raw rice slurry and mix well.
③ Mix the fermented rice, warm water, sugar, and yeast into the rice slurry, cover with a damp towel, and let it ferment.
④ Add the remaining raw rice slurry and mix for a second fermentation.
⑤ Pour into a mold and steam over a water bath for about 15 minutes.
⑥ Let the rice cake cool, remove from the mold, and sandwich with red bean paste.
5. Red Bean and Black Rice Porridge
Ingredients: Red beans, black rice, appropriate amount of white sugar.
Specific Steps:
Clean the red beans and black rice, and soak in water for more than 5 hours. Discard the soaking water, place the black rice and red beans in a pot with fresh cold water, bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to low heat and cook until tender. Add sugar before serving. This porridge can invigorate blood and beautify the skin.
Warm Reminder: People with frequent urination should avoid or limit consumption. Those bitten by a snake must not eat red beans for 100 days. Red beans should not be taken with lamb, lamb liver, or lamb tripe, as this can cause significant harm to the body and easily lead to poisoning.
6. Red Bean and Purple Rice Soup
Ingredients: 20g red beans, 20g purple rice.
Specific Steps:
Clean 20g each of red beans and purple rice and soak overnight. Discard the soaking water, add fresh water, and cook until done, then simmer over low heat until thoroughly cooked. This soup is great for nourishing blood in autumn; you can add a suitable amount of honey when eating. Red beans themselves have a diuretic effect, which helps improve edema. They are high in carbohydrates and can be part of a daily diet. However, purple rice is less digestible, so it should not be consumed in large quantities at once.
How to Select Red Beans
Pour red beans into light salt water. Good red beans will be completely submerged in the water, while bad ones will float to the surface.
You can easily tell if red beans have insects by looking for small particles like insect droppings. Then, look for beans that are uniform in size and plump; these are the best quality. For color, if they are from last year or earlier and not fresh, their red color will be dull, dry, or look faded.
Mixing with dry plant ash and sealing for storage can preserve them for a long time. When you want to eat them, just sieve off the ash and wash them.
Health Benefits and Effects of Red Beans
The saponins in red beans can stimulate the intestines, giving them a good diuretic effect. They can also help with alcohol detoxification and are beneficial for patients with heart disease, kidney disease, and edema.
The dietary fiber in red beans helps with bowel regularity, lowers blood pressure, lowers blood lipids, regulates blood sugar, detoxifies, has anti-cancer properties, prevents stones, and aids in weight loss and fitness.
Red beans contain folic acid, so eating more red beans can help increase milk production for new mothers and nursing mothers.