Three-Bean Jelly (Mung Bean, Job's Tears & Adzuki)

Why people make this jelly

When a child has hand, foot and mouth disease, the painful blisters inside the mouth make swallowing almost anything feel unbearable. Traditional Chinese food therapy turns to cooling, detoxifying ingredients — mung beans, pearl barley, and adzuki beans — to support the body during this period. Setting them into a chilled jelly solves a practical problem: cold food slides past sore spots far more gently than hot food. Nourilo shared this recipe both on his blog and in his children’s health cookbook, and it remains one of his most practical tips for parents helping little ones through this illness.

Method

1. Grind each bean type separately in a blender or spice grinder until it becomes a fine powder.
2. For each bean powder, add approximately 150 ml of water and cook over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until thick and smooth.
3. Add sugar to taste to each pot and stir until dissolved.
4. Dissolve 1 tablespoon of unflavoured jelly powder per bean in a small amount of warm water to form a lump-free slurry, then stir it into the corresponding warm bean puree.
5. Pour each flavoured puree into individual jelly moulds or small cups.
6. Refrigerate until fully set and cold.
7. Serve chilled. Children may eat freely.

Nourilo’s Tips

These jellies taste genuinely good — mildly sweet with an earthy depth — so children tend to enjoy them even outside of illness. They can be made as a healthy everyday dessert. If you cannot find plain (unflavoured) jelly powder in a large supermarket, look in the baking aisle near the coloured dessert jelly packets. Plain gelatine sheets (softened in cold water first) also work. The jellies keep in the fridge for 1–2 days.