Banh Januk - Mung Bean Mochi Balls in Sweet Coconut Sauce

Banh januk is a traditional Cambodian dessert made from glutinous rice flour, mung beans, palm sugar and coconut milk.

For the Banh Januk dough:
2 3/4 cups glutinous rice flour (16 oz bag)
1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups water

For the Mung Bean Filling:
1/2 cup mung bean
1/4 cup coconut milk
1 green onion
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt

For the Sweet Coconut Sauce:
4 cups water
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup coconut cream or 1 can of 14 oz coconut milk
3 slices of ginger
5 pandan leaves (but can be left out if you don’t have access to it)
1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions:

For the Mung Bean Filling:
1. Rinse the mung beans thoroughly and soak them in water for about 2 hours.
2. Drain the soaked mung beans and transfer them to a pot to steam. You can also cook like rice: add enough water to cover them, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 20-30 minutes or until the beans are soft.
3. Drain any excess water.
4. In a non-stick pan, add in coconut milk, green onion, mung beans, ground black pepper, and salt. Mash the mung beans until it’s a soft dough. This will be your mung bean filling. Let it cool.

For the Dough:
5. In a bowl, combine glutinous rice flour and water. Gradually add water and knead until it’s a soft dough.

Assembling:
6. Roll the mung bean filling into small balls.
7. Take small portions of the sweet rice dough, flatten them in your palm, and place a mung bean ball filling in the center.
8. Carefully fold the dough over the filling, pinching the edges to seal. Roll it into a ball and flatten just a bit.
9. Repeat this process for the remaining dough and filling.
Cooking:
10. Bring a pot of water to a low boil and drop in the mochi balls which will drop to the bottom of the pot. When cooked, they will float to the top. Give each another minute or two before removing from the pot and into ice water.
11. Remove from water and into the sweet coconut syrup sauce.

Coconut sauce:
12. In a different pot, bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Add 3/4 cup of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 3 to 4 slices of ginger, about 5 pandan leaves. Add in 3/4 cup of coconut cream or 1 can of coconut milk.

Your mung bean mochi balls are ready to enjoy! Top with some roasted sesame seeds.

These Cambodian mung bean mochi balls are a delightful combination of the chewy with the creamy mung bean filling in slightly sweet coconut sauce. They make for a great snack or dessert.

#easyrecipe #mochi #dessert #yummy