Mung or Monggo Beans is a widely used ingredient for sweet and savory dishes in Asia. In the Philippines Mung Bean stew is associated with Lent as it is commonly eaten on Fridays when religious Catholics would abstain from eating meat. However, this dish is so popular that most households make this as part of their regular meal or diet.

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This dish can be made vegetarian without adding any meat but I prefer mine with shrimps on it, pork or chicken are also favorite add ons.

To make you will need to boil 1 cup of mung beans in about 5 cups of water. Cook the the beans until soft and set aside. Saute onions, garlic and tomatoes until vegetables are softened. Add shrimps and cook until it turns pink in color. Remove the shrimps and add your cooked mung beans. Season with fish sauce or salt which ever you prefer and pepper. Let it simmer for 5 minutes (I do not like to cook this for too long as I don’t like mushy beans), add a bit of water if you think the stew is a bit dry. Return your shrimps to the pot and add a bunch of spinach. Cook just until the spinach wilts.

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Before serving you may top the dish with pork crackling bits for an extra layer of flavor, this is entirely optional.

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