Sweet mung bean paste encased in a soft yeasted dough that stays soft for days and days after being baked. The cake can be baked in the oven or cooked on the stove-top.
Rinse the mung beans in several washes of water and drain off water
Soak mung beans in hot water for 1 hour or in room temperature water for 4 hours. Drain off the soaking water. Discard the water after that and transfer to a dish and pour in water and put inside the steamer and steam over high heat for 20 minutes or longer until the beans can be easily mashed with a fork
Place the warm cooked mung beans, sugar, butter, condensed milk, and salt in a food processor or a blender and process into a smooth paste. You can also use a handmixer to mix them all together. Portion into 25 grams balls. Keep them covered while you prepare the dough
Prepare the dough:
Combine flour, yeast, salt, sugar and baking powder in a mixing bowl. Add oil and water and knead into a dough. It may not be smooth yet. Cover and let it rest for 20 minutes
After 20 minutes, give the dough some kneading again and you will notice that the dough is now smooth and soft
Shape and fill:
Divide the dough into 16 equal portions. I actually weigh the dough, about 20 grams each portion. Round it up into a ball. Keep them covered
Work with one dough at a time. Use your thumb to make an indentation in the middle and then put one filling in and mold the dough around the filling to enclose it. Pinch the seam to seal it. Round it into a dough ball
Place them on the baking sheet and flatten each dough slightly with your palm. Cover with a clean cloth and let them rest while you preheat the oven or the pan
If you plan to bake in the oven, preheat the oven to 375 F (190 C) for conventional oven, 350 F (180 C) for convection oven
If you plan to cook them on the pan, preheat a large non-stick pan over medium-low heat
To bake in the oven:
Place the baking tray in the middle rack and bake for 8 minutes and then take the tray out and flip over and bake again for another 10 minutes or until nicely golden brown
To cook on the stove:
Arrange the cake on the pre-heated pan without any oil. You may need to cook in batches. Cover with a lid and cook for about 5 minutes or until the bottom side is golden brown and then flip over, add few drops of water on the pan to create some steam, cover with a lid again and cook for another 5 minutes or until they are golden brown
Cool down:
Let them cool down on a cooling rack before storing. The soft mung bean cakes have "crispier" crust right when you just finished cooking them. The skin will be soft the next day (hence the name soft mung bean cakes)
How to store:
Once they have cooled down completely, put them in an air-tight container for 2-3 days at room temperature
For longer storage, put them on a baking tray lined with parchment and flash freeze them for 1 hour. Transfer to a freezer bag and they won't stick to each other anymore. Push all the air out from the bag and freeze for up to one month. Simply thaw at room temperature before eating