Red bean smoothie. [Photo/China Daily]

Highlighting the creativity of beans

Red Bean Rice

1 cup of red beans

1 cup of rice

1 small piece of chenpi (dried aged citrus peel)

Pick through the red beans and soak them overnight. Drain and set aside just before cooking.

Wash and rinse rice and place in rice cooker with the red beans.

Add enough water to cover the rice and beans by 1 cm. Place the citrus peel on top.

When the button pops, remove the piece of peel and fluff up the rice. If you like, now is the time to salt the rice.

Note: This is a warming dish often cooked in autumn and winter. The addition of the dried citrus peel adds to the warmth, according to traditional Chinese medicine principles.

Fish Soup With Meidou (black-eyed peas)

2 small crucian carp, known as jiyu

1 cup of black-eyed peas, picked through and soaked

500g kudzu root or fenge

1 piece of ginger

A few thick chunks of Chinese ham Clean the fish and fry them in a little oil with the ginger until golden brown on all sides. Add boiling water to the pan and keep the soup boiling until it turns milky white.

Peel the kudzu root and cut into thick slices.

Add the ham, kudzu root and black-eyed peas to the pan. When the soup returns to the boil, transfer to a large pot and continue simmering for another hour. Salt to taste before serving.

Note: Fish soup is always healthy, and the beans act as a slight diuretic, adding to the cleansing effect. The kudzu root helps to boost immunity.

Mung Bean Smoothie Sweet Soup

1 cup of mung beans, soaked

1/2 cup of potato starch

100g rock sugar

1 to 2 pieces of youtiao, or Chinese dough sticks

Soak the beans overnight until they literally burst through their skins.

Gently rub off the skins and remove them. This is a tedious process, but the end result is definitely worth it.

Rinse the beans again and place in a pot with 4 cups of water.

Bring to the boil.

Dissolve the potato starch in water and slowly add to the beans, stirring all the time to get a translucent broth. Add sugar to taste.

Cut up the youtiao into small pieces and crisp them in the oven. Serve the mung bean sweet soup with a scattering of youtiao croutons.

Note: This is an unusual mung bean dessert from southern China, popular in the Chaoshan region of Guangdong. It is part of the immigrant food culture of Malaysia and Singapore, where it is called tausuan.

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