Mung Beans with Salted Pork – Zanberik ek Pork Sale- is a traditional Seychellois dish that is highly nutritious and packed with the tropical flavours of turmeric, coconut milk, ginger and garlic.
This dish has a creamy consistency resulting from the coconut milk as well as the mung beans itself, because, as they cook, the skins start to fall off, and some of the the beans sort of just dissolve into the dish.
What is mung bean?
The mung bean (Vigna radiata, moved from the genus Phaseolus to Vigna in the 1970s ) is a legume cultivated for its edible seeds and sprouts. The English word mung, correctly pronounced as ‘moong’, originated from the Hindi word “moong”, which is derived from the Sanskrit word “mudga”.
Origin of Zanberik
Zanberik is the local Creole name for mung beans and it derives from the French ‘ambériques vertes’. It is also called ‘haricot mungo’. Ambériques may have initially found its way to the Seychelles, from Madagascar through Réunion Island early during the settlement.
Mung bean is a major edible legume seed
The mung bean is a major edible legume seed in Asia (India, South East-Asia and East Asia) and is also eaten in Southern Europe and in the Southern USA. The mature seeds provide an invaluable source of digestible protein for humans in places where meat is lacking or where people are mostly vegetarian. Mung beans are cooked fresh or dry. They can be eaten whole or made into flour, soups, porridge, snacks, bread, noodles, and ice-cream. The sprouted seeds (“bean sprouts” in English, and incorrectly called “germes de soja” or “pousses de soja” in French) are relished raw or cooked throughout the world.
This dish is packed with nutrients
As mentioned earlier, this dish is very nutritious, and this is due to the two factors, below:
Firstly, mung beans have many medicinal properties. They are a good source of folate, dietary fiber, protein, phosphorus, iron, copper, magnesium, manganese, potassium, and vitamin K. The protein-plus-fiber combination in beans is one of the things that makes them special. They also contain antioxidants such as vitexin and isovitexin that may protect against free radical damage that occurs during heat stroke.
Secondly, the turmeric abounds with natural medicinal properties. It contains an active ingredient called curcumin which has anti-inflammatory properties and has been shown to be beneficial in treating many ailments.
Salted Pork
Salted pork is not easy to access these days so why not make your own. Follow this link and you will learn how easy it is to salt you own pork. Once you have accessed your salted pork, wash it very thoroughly to remove as much surface salt as possible. Place in a pot and boil for about 25 minutes until cooked.
Remove the pork from cooking liquor, allow it to cool and cut into bite-size portions. Keep the cooking liquor because you may decide to add some of it to the dish. Be careful though, check for the level of saltiness, because the cooking liquor may make your dish too salty.
Preparing Mung Beans with Salted Pork – Zanberik ek Pork Sale
If mung beans are not an ingredient you have cooked with before, I encourage you to give them a try. They are widely available in most large food stores, including Asian shops.
Soak your mung beans.
When you buy mung beans the instructions on the packet may ask you to cook it without soaking. We have found out that if we soak our mung beans overnight we end up with a far creamier dish that cooks much faster than if they are not soaked. Place your mung beans in a large bowl and add water and let it soak for a good 12 hours. Once you are happy that they are soft enough, drain them and give then a good rinse to remove any impurities and keep.
Prepare your pork
Prepare your pork as we have explained above and keep.
Cook the mung Beans
Place your soaked mung beans in a medium size pot, top it with cold water and boil for about 15 minutes. Skim off any impurirites that float to the top. Stir your beans constantly, ensuring that they do not stick to the bottom of the pot. The beans will absorb water and will start to break up. After around 15 minutes, remove the pot from the heat and use a potato masher and roughly mash the beans until it becomes creamy.
The traditional methods to mash the mung beans
Traditionally, there were two methods for mashing the mung beans. One method was to spoon them into a mortar and use a pestle to mash them up and then transfer them back into the pot. The other method was to use a pestle with a flat tip and mash the beans in to pot itself.
Finishing the Mung Beans with Salted Pork – Zanberik ek Pork Sale
Add the coconut milk and mix thoroughly, then add the turmeric, stir it in and then mix in all the other ingredients, including the salted pork meat . Place the pot back on the fire and simmer for another 15 minutes. If the mix is too thick you will need to thin it out with some water, or you may decide to add some of the cooking liquour in which the pork was boiled to the dish to thin it and to add that extra flavour. Be careful though, check for the level of saltiness, because the cooking liquor may make your dish too salty. Your end product should be of a thick flowing consistency but not too thick as it will keep on thickening when cooling down.
Here is the recipe for Mung Beans with Salted Pork – Zanberik ek Pork Sale
Mung Beans with Salted Pork – Zanberik ek Pork Sale- is a traditional Seychellois dish that is highly nutritious and packed with the tropical flavours of turmeric, coconut milk, ginger and garlic.
- 400 g mung beans
- 500 g salted pork
- 500 ml water
- 1 tin full cream coconut milk
- 1 tsp crushed ginger
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 4 cloves garlic- crushed
- ½ onion- chopped
- Salt & pepper
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Sort through the mung beans, discarding discolored or shriveled beans and any grit or dirt. Rinse in cold, running water until water runs clear. Drain well.
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Place the mung beans in a large bowl and soak for at least 12 hours.
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Wash your salted pork very thoroughly to remove as much surface salt as possible and place in a pot and boil for about 25 minutes.
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Remove the pork from cooking liquour, allow it to cool and cut into small bite-size portions and keep. Also, keep the cooking liquour because you may decide to add some of it to the dish. Be careful though, check for the level of saltiness, because the cooking liquor may make your dish too salty.
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In a large pot, combine mung beans and water and bring to boil over medium heat. Skim off, any impurities that float to the surface using a perforated spoon,
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Simmer for about 15 minutes or until the mung beans have softened and skins have burst and most of the water has been absorbed. Stir your beans constantly, ensuring that they do not stick to the bottom of the pot.
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Remove the pot from the heat and use a potato masher and roughly mash the beans until it becomes creamy.
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Add the coconut milk and mix thoroughly, then add the turmeric, stir it in and then mix in all the other ingredients, including the salted pork meat .
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Place the pot back on the fire and simmer for another 15 minutes. If the mix is too thick you will need to thin it out with some water, or you may decide to add some of the cooking liquour in which the pork was boiled to the dish to thin it and to add that extra flavour. Be careful though, check for the level of saltiness, because the cooking liquor may make your dish too salty. Your end product should be of a thick flowing consistency but not too thick as it will keep on thickening when cooling down.
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The dish should be of a thick flowing consistency but not too thick as it will keep on thickening when cooling down. If the beans become too thick, add more water as required.
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Season with salt and pepper to taste.
When you buy mung beans, the instructions on the packet may ask you to cook it without soaking. We have found out that if we soak our mung beans overnight, we end up with a far creamier dish, that cooks much faster, than if they are not soaked.
Did you make this recipe?
I hope you will enjoy cooking this dish. Please let me know how it turned out for you. If you have a different version of the recipe or have related questions, please leave your comments below.
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