Green Bean (Mung Bean) - For Cooling & Detox

Green bean 绿豆(also known as Mung Bean), is an excellent source for detox and relieving summer heat). It is a very popular dessert in Chinese families, and is extremely simple to make.

Green bean is known to be cooling, so may not be suitable for people who have a cool body (those who have cold hands and feet), people having diarrhea, women who are having their menses (or going to have their menses). There's several ways of cooking green bean dessert. 2 popular ways are green bean soup and green bean water. Both have different benefits and should not be confused with one another, though both uses the same ingredients and cooking method.

Pre-cook Preparation
Soak green bean in water over night (or at least 2 hours)

Ingredients
pandan leaves (optional. I'll usually add in pandan leaves for the fragrance)
green bean
water
brown sugar/rock sugar (optional)

Cooling Purpose 降火气 - Green Bean Water 绿豆水
The skin of green bean helps to reduce heatiness. Hence, if your purpose is to cool or reduce heatiness, do not cook the green bean soup for too long. Add the beans to boiling water and boil in small/medium fire for about 10 minutes (don't cook for too long). Alternatively, just add boiling water to green beans, and let is simmer for around 15 mins. Add in some brown sugar or rock sugar (冰糖) if you need more flavour.The beans will look pretty hard and inedible. The water will look clear and greenish. Discard the beans and drink the water.

Detox Purpose 解毒 - Green Bean Soup 绿豆汤
The inner part of green bean helps with detox, hence, for detox purposes, you will need to cook till it's tender (煮烂), where you will basically see the beans "breaking up", and see the white inner parts of the bean. You will need to boil the soup longer (around 30 mins or more). The soup will look cloudy and slightly reddish. Green bean soup is good for detox, but not so ideal if your purpose is for cooling.