Che Ba Mau

Ingredients

• 150 g dried red kidney or adzuki beans
• 150 g split mung beans, hulled
• 180 g sugar, divided
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 60 g mung bean starch or tapioca starch
• 400 ml water for the jelly
• 4 tbsp pandan extract or 8 pandan leaves blitzed with 100 ml water and strained
• 50 g sugar for the jelly
• 400 ml coconut milk
• 100 ml water for the coconut sauce
• 2 tbsp sugar for the coconut sauce
• 1/4 tsp salt for the coconut sauce
• 1 tbsp cornflour mixed with 2 tbsp cold water
• 1 litre crushed ice
• 2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds or crushed roasted peanuts (optional)

Before you cook

• Soak the red beans in plenty of cold water overnight or for at least 6 hours.
• Soak the split mung beans in cold water for 2 hours.
• Drain both lots of beans and rinse them.
• Blitz the pandan leaves with 100 ml of water and strain the green liquid if you are using fresh leaves.
• Lightly oil a shallow tray about 20 cm square for the jelly.

Steps

1. Put the drained red beans in a pot with 800 ml of cold water and bring them to the boil.
2. Turn the heat to low and simmer for 50 minutes until the beans are soft but still holding their shape.
3. Drain off most of the cooking liquid, leaving just enough to keep the beans moist.
4. Stir 80 g of the sugar and 1/4 tsp of the salt into the hot beans and cook for 5 minutes until glossy, then set them aside to cool.
5. Put the drained mung beans in a separate pot with 400 ml of water.
6. Simmer them for 20 minutes until completely soft and most of the water has gone.
7. Mash the mung beans with a spoon until they form a coarse thick paste.
8. Stir in 100 g of sugar and the remaining 1/4 tsp of salt, then cook for 3 minutes and set aside to cool.
9. Whisk the mung bean starch, the 400 ml of water, the pandan extract and the 50 g of sugar together in a saucepan until smooth.
10. Cook the mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 6 minutes until it thickens and turns from cloudy to translucent.
11. Pour the hot jelly into the oiled tray and smooth the surface.
12. Chill the jelly for 30 minutes until firm, then cut it into thin strips about 5 mm wide.
13. Warm the coconut milk with the 100 ml of water, the 2 tbsp of sugar and the 1/4 tsp of salt in a small pan over low heat.
14. Stir in the cornflour slurry and cook for 2 minutes until the sauce thickens slightly, then cool it completely.
15. Spoon 2 tbsp of the red beans into the bottom of each tall glass.
16. Add 2 tbsp of the mung bean paste in a second layer.
17. Add a small tangle of the green pandan jelly strips as the third layer.
18. Pack crushed ice into each glass right to the top.
19. Pour the cold coconut sauce over the ice until it starts to run down through the layers.
20. Scatter over the toasted sesame seeds and serve with a long spoon, telling everyone to stir it all together before eating.