Can I add some alkali when cooking mung bean porridge? Why is the mung bean porridge red when cooked?

Mung beans are rich in protein, vitamins and trace elements, and have very high nutritional value. They are a very healthy natural food. Also known as green beans, they are named for their green color and have been cultivated in my country for more than 2,000 years. It is common to cook mung beans with porridge. Can you add some alkali when cooking mung bean porridge? Why is the mung bean porridge red? Let's find out.

Contents of this article

1. Can I add some alkali when cooking mung bean porridge?

2. Why is mung bean porridge red when cooked?

3. How long should the mung bean soup be soaked in advance?

Can I add some alkali when cooking mung bean porridge?

You can add some alkali when cooking mung bean porridge, but it is not recommended. Although adding some alkali when cooking mung bean porridge can make mung beans cook faster and make the mung bean porridge thicker, adding alkali will destroy the B vitamins, flavonoids and polyphenol antioxidants in mung beans, and the nutritional value of mung bean porridge will be greatly reduced.

Mung beans are rich in B vitamins, flavonoids and polyphenol antioxidants. These ingredients are not alkali-resistant and will be quickly destroyed when encountering alkali.

If you do not consider the nutritional value of mung bean porridge, and just want to make it thicker and taste better, you can add an appropriate amount of alkali when cooking the mung bean porridge. Eating mung bean porridge with added alkali has no major effect on the human body.

When adding alkali when cooking mung bean porridge, the polyphenols in the mung beans will undergo a chemical reaction, turning the color of the mung bean porridge red.

Why is mung bean porridge red?

The reason for turning red may be that the mung bean soup is cooked with the lid open. The mung bean skin is rich in phenolic substances. Cooking the mung bean soup with the lid open will cause the phenolic substances on the skin to dissolve and react with oxygen in the air, causing the mung bean soup to turn red.

Mung bean is the seed of the legume plant mung bean, also known as green bean, named after its green color. It has a cultivation history of more than 2,000 years in China.

Mung bean is rich in protein, vitamins and trace elements, has very high nutritional value, and is a very healthy natural food.

Mung beans are native to India and Myanmar. They are now widely grown in East Asian countries, and also grown in small quantities in Africa, Europe and the United States. China, Myanmar and other countries are major exporters of mung beans.

How long should mung bean soup be soaked in advance?

Generally, before cooking mung bean soup, mung beans can be soaked for 3-5 hours in advance. As a kind of grain, mung beans are hard in texture, so it will take a long time to cook them directly. If you soak the mung beans in cold water for a while before cooking, the cooking time will be shortened. Generally, it is enough to soak mung beans for 3-5 hours in advance.

Soaking mung beans in cold water will not destroy their nutrition. Soaking mung beans in hot water will easily lead to the loss of nutrients in mung beans, thereby reducing their nutritional value and edible value.

Mung bean soup is a common summer food for cooling down the body. The main ingredient is mung beans. Before making mung bean soup, it is generally recommended to soak the mung beans for 3-5 hours.

Soaking mung beans can not only remove the dust remaining on the surface of the mung beans, but also soften the mung beans, making them cook faster and the nutrients release faster.