It was the first time my mom taught me how to cook. She said, “If you want to be independent, you need to know how to cook, at least something simple.” The menu she picked was Mung Bean Soup.
I was confused at first. I mean, mung beans are usually made into porridge, right? But I just went along with it.
Mom said, “Just boil a handful of mung beans. Later we’ll add carrots, potatoes, meatballs, and other stuff.”
I glanced at my dad, who happened to be watching me in the kitchen. We looked at each other and thought the same thing: A handful? Who’s that supposed to feed? To us, a handful of mung beans was barely enough to get stuck between your teeth, let alone make a proper soup.
So, with full confidence, Dad and I decided to make our own calculation. Instead of one handful, we dumped in one whole kilogram of mung beans.
At first, we were proud. Look at that! The pot was full, green, and looked promising. But when it came time to eat… reality hit different. Sure, it tasted fine—but the portion was insane. A giant pot of mung bean soup that never seemed to get any smaller.
From that day on, every meal for the entire week was the same: mung bean soup. Heat it up in the morning, eat it at noon. Heat it up again in the evening, eat it for dinner. On and on, for seven days straight.
By the end of the week, all I could do was laugh bitterly. “So this is what happens when you try to outsmart the recipe.” Mom just shook her head with a tiny smile, while Dad chuckled beside me. Both of us finally realized… sometimes a handful is more than enough.
Photo by David Gabrielyan on Unsplash
