Sweet Green Mung Bean ‘Soup’ (Look Dul Sah)

A traditional Chinese medicinal soup( more like a porridge to Westerners).This excellent recipe is from one of my favorite cookbooks,The Wisdom Of The Chinese Kitchen,by Grace Young.In it she states that this sweet soup is considered cooling ,and therefore is thought to be beneficial in hot weather and to treat itchy skin conditions,rashes,and acne-but not too eat more than 1 1/2 cup at a time or it may cool the body too much and make people with weak constitutions faint!(I eat much more than the serving and have always been fine lol)For this recipe you need green mung beans,not hulled yellow beans,and Chinese brown sugar also called brown candy.The sugar can be found in almost any Asian market and is sold in slabs that are about the color and cosistency of piloncillo or soft jaggery and come 4-6 slabs in a package.They should be soft enough to cut easily if the package has been stored properly.For the medicinal benefits the sugar should not be substituted,as the brown candy is believed to be superior to other sugars and remove toxins from the body.