Harvest Monday, February 2, 2015 – Growing Mung Bean Sprouts (Reblogged)

I am back!!!!! Miss you all and missed a lot of posts. Will try to catch up.

Had planned to resume blogging in January, but nothing was going as planned.

Started the year feeling very tired and unmotivated. Was blaming the conditions on overdoing things during the holiday season and decided to just chill out for a few days. Did not help. Was having digestive problem as well and no appetite. After giving this some thoughts, concluded it had to do with my diet so decided to start eliminating one food at a time from my diet to see if that was the case. First to be eliminated was dairy, within a few hours my bloating problem disappeared and I felt hungry. Cooked and ate a full meal and I felt alive again, after a few days, like magic, my skin started to clear up and my finger joints were no longer swollen. Problem solved? I am hoping.

Does this mean I have become lactose intolerant? Will I have to give up all dairy products? That would make me sad. I can do without milk and cream but I love cheese and ice cream and am a chocoholic. Perhaps I can eat some dairy products. Will be experimenting to see what is agreeable and what is not.

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The past few days I was feeling like my old energetic self again so decided to start my winter kitchen garden (am late, but better late than never). Grew some mung beans sprouts (scroll down for instructions).

Mung Bean Sprouts

Made a soup with some of the sprouts yesterday. The remainder will go into a noodle stir fry dish sometime this week.

Tofu Vegetable Soup

Wanted a quick and simple soup so I add some broth to a pot, toss in broccoli florets (from store) and sliced carrots (in storage from last fall harvest), bring to a boil, simmer until vegetables are just under desired doneness, add cubed tofu (I used soft but any kind will work), bring to a boil, stir in bean sprouts and a few drops of sesame oil, adjust seasoning and enjoy. Sorry, there is no recipe.This is one of those do as you please with what is in the fridge soup.

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Reblogging the following that was published on January 16, 1012.

Growing Mung Bean Sprouts

Mung bean sprouts are easy to grow and fun to eat. A versatile vegetable that requires no preparation and only brief cooking. Brief cooking retains the crunchiness and brings out the sweetness. Mung bean sprouts can be eaten at any stage. Use it in soup, stir fry, as a side alone or combined with other ingredients.

The benefit of growing your own bean sprouts is that you can grow as much or as little as you like. Because of the ease of growing and because it can be eaten at any stage you have the ability to control the timing so it is available at its peak, nice and fresh, at the stage you like, when you need it. Bean sprouts will keep in the refrigerator for a few days just make sure the sprouts are dry to the touch before placing in plastic bag.

There are many sprouts growing equipments on the market but I like to use what I have on hand in the kitchen and the simpler the better. I purchase my mung beans (organic) from the health food store. If you are purchasing elsewhere, check to make sure the beans are not treated.

What you will need:
• a clean colander, preferable a flat bottom one
• cheese cloth or paper towel
• mung beans, picked over carefully to get rid of any debris and broken seeds

Method:

Left, dry mung beans; right, mung beans after soaking for 8 hours.

1. Rinse beans well in several changes of water. Place rinsed beans in a container, cover with at least 2 inches of warm water, soak for at least 8 hours or overnight.
2. Line colander with a layer of cheese cloth (prefer) or paper towel, this is to prevent beans from falling into the holes and clogging them.
3. Drain mung beans and spread in lined colander, cover beans with a layer of cheese cloth or paper towel. Spray with cool water, drain well. Place colander in a warm spot. Do not place in a closed cabinet where there is no air circulation. I keep mine on the kitchen counter.
4. Rinse beans with cool water 2 – 3 times daily, drain well after each rinse. Return colander to warm spot. Do not allow cheese cloth or paper towel to dry out between rinses.

This is what the sprouts look like after 24 hours. The roots are about ¼ inch long.

This is what the sprouts look like 0n the 2nd day (48 hours). The roots are about ¾–1 inch long.

This is what the sprouts look like on the third day (72 hours). The roots are about 1½ inches long you can also see the stems.

This is what the sprouts look like on the 4th day. The roots are about 2 inches long.

The sprouted beans have a tint of green because each time I uncover to take photo they are exposed to light. Keep under cover at all time for white sprouts.

This is what the sprouts look like on the 5th day. The stems are now about 2 inches long. The roots did not grow much.

The sprouts on the left with the green tint are the ones on top of the pack and were exposed to light, the ones on the right are the ones at the bottom and were not exposed to light.
My sprouts are not as fat as the ones in the food markets. To get fat sprouts put a weight on top of the beans at the start.
I started out with 4 ounces (about ½ cup) of dry mung beans and harvest about 1½ pounds of sprouts at this stage. I sometimes let the sprouts grow another day or two.

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Copyright © by Norma Chang. All Rights Reserved. Do not use/repost any photos and/or articles without permission.

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