Mung Bean Cake (綠豆糕)

Part A- Mung Bean Paste

1. Pour a pack of  14-oz Peeled Split Mung Bean (去皮綠豆, see package below) into a bowl, add water to immerse the beans, let sit overnight (or 6-8 hours during the day), use a strainer to filter the water out completely (spoon out all the beans from the bowl into the strainer to make sure) .  Place the mung beans in a large ceramic bowl (do NOT cover the bowl with plastic wrap), then steam the beans in a regular steamer for 60 minuets at medium-low heat (after the steamer builds up full steam), or in a rice cooker for 45 minutes after the rice cooker builds up full steam (add 15-20 minutes, or check on the steam vent then set the timer to 45 minutes).  Note- After 45 minutes of steaming, unplug the rice cooker's power cord, because the warm-up function might dry up the mung beans.  Let the bowl cool down inside the rice cooker before taking the bowl out.
2. Place the steamed beans into a larger bowl, stir up and let the beans air-dry for  45-60 minutes.  Add 3/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup vegi-oil, 1/4 cup sesame oil, then use a spoon to crush the beans until turning into paste (For a 12-oz pack of Peeled Mung Been, use 3 Tbsp Sesame Oil, 3 Tbsp Veggie Oil, and 1/2 cup sugar). Alternatively, use a Mixer to stir the mix into paste, using the Flat Beater (not the Dough Hook, nor the Wire Whip) at Speed Level 2,  for 5-6 minutes (stop the mixer every minute or two to flip the mix from the side into the center of the mixing bowl).  Note- The paste should be dry enough this way, not to require any baking at the end. If the paste turns out to be a bit too moist, bake 10-15 minutes at 300-deg-F. We once bought a 12-oz (vs 14-oz) pack of Peeled Mung Been once, which led to too wet a paste. The paste was filled into the silicon mold, and baked for 15 minutes at 300 degF. And the result was acceptable.

Part B- Mung Bean Cake

1. Use Brownie Square Silicone Baking Mold, from Amazon (see picture below the mung bean package).  Note-  The mold is made of silicone, hence no need to grease the bottom.
2. Place mung bean paste into the silicone mold, add fillings if desired (see Part C below; Nowadays I don't add any fillings, just pure mung bean cake), add more mung bean paste on top of the filling and press the surface tightly and evenly.  Note- use two large spoons to fill the mold cavities with paste.  Press down firmly and then fill up.  At the end, cover the mold with plastic wrap, and further press down flatly with both hands.
3. Place the mold and paste in fridge to chill for an hour or more. Flip the mold upside-down in a baking pan, and push pieces out by lightly pressing the bottom of the mold, when ready to serve.  Here is a picture of the finished product.
   

Part C- Fillings (use purple yam as filling)

1. Buy 1 purple yam, peel and place it on top of the mung beans, and steam together with the beans in the rice cooker. Note 2- pinch a tiny part off the very end of the purple yam, to make sure it's purple (according to the gentleman who tends to the vegi-section in the Chinese market I visited).
2. Chop the purple yam into small chunks, and crush into paste. That's your filling (no need to add sugar).