Why it works: Mung bean and coconut share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 18 recipes mention both. Both carry acetoin, which smells butter, cream. The science ↓
The recipe
4 servingsIngredients
Contains: wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Rinse the 4 cups hulled yellow mung beans, drain, then soak them in cold water to cover for 30 minutes and drain again.
Put the beans in a pot with the 3 1/2 cups water, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer covered for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until very soft.
Mash the beans with a potato masher or spoon until mostly smooth, keeping the pot over low heat.
Stir in the 3/4 cup white sugar and 1/2 teaspoon salt and simmer for 3 minutes until dissolved.
In a small bowl, whisk the 1/3 cup tapioca flour with the 3/4 cup water until no lumps remain.
Stir the tapioca slurry into the bean mixture and cook over medium-low heat for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until thick and glossy.
Pour the pudding into a serving dish or four bowls, let cool for 20 minutes, then refrigerate for at least 1 hour until set.
Warm the 1 cup coconut cream gently in a small saucepan until pourable, then spoon over each serving before eating.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
-
Mung bean + coconuttop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together18 recipes
Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).
-
Sugar + creamtop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together43,437 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Coconut + creamtop 9% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together1,214 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Mung bean + flourtop 9% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together10 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + flourtop 10% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together89,462 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Sugar and flour share little aroma chemistry, yet 89,462 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
The Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.