I don’t often cook with mung beans, but once in a while I like to eat them, they’re so cute and round and tiny with a little white eye staring at you.

Of course, I didn’t grow up eating those beans since they’re mainly used in Asian cuisine, and growing up Asian cuisine was not part of my diet.

I remember in Nancy, the first time I ate Asian food, was in a Vietnamese restaurant, the only one in town, I must have been 13 year old (so it’s been a long time!), it was located in a gallery (and still is).

Then I used crab mushrooms, as an accompaniment, those look like beech mushrooms to me, but they seem to be different. I saw a box of crab mushroom at the Asian store, next to a box of  beech mushrooms so I came to the conclusion that they’re two different kinds of mushrooms. If I am wrong, please let me know. I would love to know.

The exciting part of this dish is that it’s vegan…and absolutely delicious. The tofu dipping sauce is so creamy and fragrant that the non-tofu friendly crowd will forget it’s tofu. I used regular tofu but silken tofu would be even better. Do not be intimidated by tofu, it’s such a versatile little ingredients and due to its neutral flavor, you can create so many dipping sauces an have a tofu makeover session! it’s so much fun to play with it!

Ingredients for about 10-12 galettes

For the galettes

• 170 g dried mung beans
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 1 poblano pepper, finely diced
• 1 carrot, shredded
• 1 leek, finely chopped
• 1 tsp curry powder
• a dash of soy sauce
• 2 tsp roasted sesame seeds
• 2 tbs mint, chopped
• 1 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

For the mushrooms

• 1 box of crab mushrooms
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tsp mirin
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 1 tbs cilantro, chopped

For the tofu dipping sauce

• 1/4 lb tofu
• 2 tbs soy yogurt
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tsp soy sauce

Preparation

For the galettes

Cook mung beans in water until tender. Drain well and let cool. Mash with a potato masher or with your hands.

Heat olive oil in a pan, add shallots and brown them. Add peppers, and leeks and cook until tender. Add carrots and stir for a few minutes. Add curry powder, stir well and cook for a few more minutes until all the vegetables are coated with the curry powder. Add soy sauce and stir.

Add the vegetables to the mashed mung beans and mix well to obtain a homogenous mixture. Add sesame seeds and mint. Form patties usig your hands. Coat each patty with panko crumbs.

Heat olive oil in a pan, place each galette in the pan and cook both sides until golden brown. remove from pan and serve hot with crab mushrooms and tofu sauce.

For the crab mushrooms

Was mushroom and disassemble them. In a pan, heat olive oil, add onion, ginger and cook the mixture until fragrant, then add garlic and cook for a few extra minutes. Add mushrooms, stir well, then add mirin. Cook until the mushrooms are cooked but still moist. Add cilantro.

For the tofu dipping sauce

Place tofu and other ingredients in a blender, and blend until the mixture is smooth and creamy.