liang fen | mung bean jelly

Liang fen, or mung bean jelly, has been on the weekly rotation ever since i made it for a party a few months ago! the jelly texture is fun to eat, it’s flavorful (esp when it’s been sitting in the sauce for a little bit), and refreshing!

You might have this before at chinese restaurants, the sauce is a little tangy with a good amount of fragrant chili oil + fresh herbs. The jelly is made with just mung bean starch and water, it’s usually just cut into noodles but I’m trying to make the most of my jelly molds so I made mooncake shaped ones this time!

jelly ingredients:

• 1/2 cup mung bean starch
• 3.5 cups water

sauce (enough for about 1/3 of the batch of jelly):

• 1-1.5 tbsp black vinegar (use more or less vinegar based on how tangy you want it)
• 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1-2 tsp chili oil
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp dark sesame oil
• pinch of sugar
• roasted sesame seeds
• cilantro

to make:

• mix mung bean starch with 1/2 cup of water
• heat up 3 cups of water in sauce pan until lots of little bubbles appears at the bottom (make sure it does not reach a rolling boil)
• turn heat to low, stir the starch mixture well and pour into the water
• stir constantly for 1-2 minutes until mixture thickens and becomes opaque
• when you see air bubbles come to the surface and mixture is thick, remove sauce pan from heat and pour into translucent container
• leave cool uncovered, then store in fridge covered until solid ~2-3 hours (will be good in fridge for 3-4 days)
• to serve, slice jelly into desired shape and drench in sauce, I like to let it marinate in the sauce for ~30 minutes before serving so it’s extra flavorful