Bean Sprout recipe. Healthy and Inexpensive

It happened a long time ago when I was first introduced to this funny-looking vegetable -or is it a legume? It showed up in the broth of my large flat rice noodle soup with meatballs, crowding my soup space. I carefully ate around the "yellow head with long tail" because I didn't appreciate the crunchiness, the hard-to-break and hard-to-swallow texture of it, not to mention the lack of flavor. My grandmother would try to trick me into eating it, but without success. Who could sneak in bean sprouts without being detected, anyway? It got so bad that at one point I made myself gag just to prove how much I despised the thing, and just for doing that I was punished - the next time around - by having to consume my next bowl of noodle soup noodle-less, but with a lot of floaty bean sprouts, instead. Those were really bad memories.





The next thing I knew, my mother would call me to help her in the kitchen when she made her famous "meegrob" (which reminds me that I'll sometime have to talk through the difficult steps of making this divine crispy noodle with all its condiments). Her meegrob is so famous, and she'd make the dish when we had a religious ceremony, such as housewarmings and birthday blessings, and offer it to the monks. Naturally, the relatives got to have a taste of mother's meegrob and would talk about it for a long time. One of the must-haves on the side of meegrob is fresh bean sprouts. My job was to sit (or stand) in front of a huge bowl that had three million bean sprouts soaking in water, and to start taking off the roots, one-by-one. All the sprouts have to be presented nicely white and clean on the side of crispy meegrob- root-less. If you are familiar with bean sprouts you know how tiny they are - and their roots are very long! Thinking back on it now, as a grown-up, I could see that my mother wanted to teach me patience, tolerance, endurance, and all the good things parents want to teach their children. When I thanked my mother much later, she just gave me a quick wave of her hand and said, "Oh, it wasn't anything like that! No one else wanted to do it- not even the maids- so I called you over. But good on you! I'm glad that I gave you a chance to learn."


Wahhh!!!!


One weekend assignment in first grade was for me (with help from my parents) to buy a bag of mung beans (tiny green beans) and soak them over night. Then, I'd have to line a tray with wet tissues while laying down the mung beans with space in between each, an inch apart. By the time I'd go back to school on Monday, I should have had bean sprouts and even tiny bean plants to present to the class. Well, that never happened. I came home and my parents told me that we were taking a trip that weekend, so I went without informing them of my project. Come Monday I had nothing to show, and when I was asked by my teacher I replied (with some nerve), "I had a plan with my family prior to the assignment." The result was a zero for my grade, and my father was called in to the principal's office to be disciplined. Yes, my father was being scolded because he should have paid attention to my first grade agenda book - hahaha. Later, because of his charm, he became my elementary school principal's favorite parent. Things were a little different back then, weren't they! But both he and I never forgot the bean sprout incident.


Bean sprouts are used widely in Asian dishes. If you are in Thailand and walk its streets you would -sooner AND later- have several noodle bowls during your stay. A noodle stand vendor will put a fistful of bean sprouts (with roots are still intact - they don't have the luxury of time -or ME- to break them off!) in the drainer, dunk it in the boiling broth 'tank'; and, with a few shakes, pour the cooked sprouts into a large noodle bowl. I can have hot steamy "guoitiew senyai loogshin" -large(flat)noodle (with)meatballs- anytime of the day.





We also eat bean sprouts with guoitiewpuddthai, or "puddthai" for short. (It's prononced like utter, butter, putter, but not pudding. There is no direct spelling that create an exact pronunciation, but it is definitely not "padthai" like a notepad. Neither is it "padThai" nor "puddThai": seriously, I would not taste good stir-fried.) Bean sprouts act as a condiment on the side, along with several other ingredients. To make puddthai the Thai way, one needs a lot of time for preparation because several condiments have to be prepared and set aside separately. Most restaurants in the United States serve the quick and easy version, which is just fine, as long as their puddthai dishes do not taste sweet. From time to time I have been served puddthai so sweet, as if each strand of long thin rice noodle has been coated with sugar. Unfortunately, puddthai is not the only dish served in America that has a high sugar content. Ghangped - ghangkiewwan - green and red curry are also notorious for that. Meegrob, somtum- papaya salad- yumwoonsen - glass noodle salad- and even our famous crispy fried fish with chili sauce -plaradprik- are made and presented with much too much sugar. I think that the adding-sugar-business started back in the days of the Thai pioneers entering the US. They tried their best to represent the Thai taste but grew worried that the spiciness from the chili would be too much to introduce to the western tongue, so they compensated with the sweet taste. Days have gone by, and that generation has retired and left its legacy- in its formulated recipes- to its successors; who, unfortuately, blindly follow without thinking. (Either that, or their taste buds are numb from too much sugar, so they keep adding more and more.) If Thai dishes really taste this sweet, Thailand would be a country full of obese people with diatetes, kidney and heart diseases. But that's not the case at all! I wish that restaurants would feel more responsible: after all, they use "Thai" as their trademark.


Back to bean sprouts. As I mentioned before, bean sprouts are presented on the side of meegrob. It seems like bean sprouts only make their appearance in a supporting role; but, have they ever been cast as the principal artists? Ahhhhh... (a dramatic moment with a long-held high note --no, let's make it higher-- with an arm on the forehead as the soprano swoons--still lingering on her even higher note), but they have!! They have been cast as leading artists!!!!


Phew! I'm glad that's out of my system.

Bean sprout - common and inexpensive, with the right combination of other ingredients you can turn it into a healthy and simple, yet full of flavor dish.

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Stir-fried bean sprouts with tofu and ground pork

Although stir-fried bean sprouts made its debut as one of many dishes served with boiled rice, the dish becomes diet people-friendly. Bean sprouts are mostly fiber and they contain other goodies such as vitamins A, B, C, E and minerals such as calcium, potassium, and iron. (Source: Mung Bean Sprouts: Nutritional Value and Benefits http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/29536/mung_bean_sprouts_nutritional_value.html?cat=22) Not to mention that there's no cholesterol, no fat, hardly any carbs, and they're low in calories yet still have a small amount of protein.


BEAN SPROUTS ARE GOOD FOR YOU.


Wow! And I was about to tell you that as a diet roller-coaster rider for most of my life, I trained myself to "like" beansprouts. They have saved me many times. But it's boring and unbearable for me to eat a plate full of bean sprouts by themselves - I still dislike the bland taste.





I find bean sprouts at regular food stores disappointing and recommend that you go to an Oriental store and ask for one pound of bean sprouts (if you plan to cook for two or three). As for me, I'd buy 1 1/2 to 2 pounds everytime. When cooked, they shrink considerably. They do not keep well -raw- for more than one night in the refrigerator, and rotten bean sprouts smell horrible, so only buy when you know you will cook them within a day or two. If they look soggy and brownish they are not fresh. Did I mention cheap? Oh, yes, they are inexpensive!


BEAN SPROUTS ARE GOOD FOR YOU.


You are already at the Oriental store bought your 1-2 pounds of bean sprouts, and might as well get these items also:


1-2 packs of hard (yellow) tofu. It's your choice. Tofu is delicious and high in protein. I do have a little digestive problem with tofu, but my children love it so I use two packs and just make sure I don't eat too much!


1 small bunch of Chinese parsley - it looks like celery in a much thiner version, but if you don't see any you can substitute with 2-3 celery stalks. Or, if you have cilantro that will be great, also. But choose only one of these three.


Sauces: if you haven't purchased your bottles of oytersauce (nammunnhoy) and soy bean paste (towjiew), this is the time to do so.


I hope you have a pack of ground pork at home. If not, please make a quick stop to get one. If you use one pound of bean sprouts you will use a half pack of ground pork (you know, the regular size that they sell at the market, not the super- size from a food club where you buy in bulk) If you use up to 2 pounds of bean sprouts then we'll use the whole pack.


3-4 cloves of garlic, rinsed and flattened with the side of a large knife and the skins peeled off.





Prep


Soak the bean sprouts in a large bowl filled with water. Take out the floating green mung bean skins as much as you can - Don't worry if you can't get them all. You can eat them, but I just don't like too much skin in my stir-fry.


If you want to put your children to work you will have the roots of your sprouts taken off for you - hahaha. But I wouldn't worry about it as long as you make sure that the bean sprouts are soaked for a long time in the water before you rinse them.


If you choose celery stalks clean and chop them finely. If Chinese parsley or cilantro is your choice, clean, (You may use cilantro roots for extra aromatic effect.) and section them between 1-2 inches long.


Cut the tofu into small cubes, or rectangular pieces.


And you've got your flattened garlic and ground pork, right?


Cook





Heat the skillet at medium high and put in extra virgin olive oil. When it heats up, put in garlic (and cilantro roots - if you have them).


When garlic pieces turn light brown, add ground pork and put in about 4 tablespoons of soy bean paste -towjiew, and 2 table spoons of oystersauce - nammunnhoy. Add a little bit of ground black pepper. Keep stirring to make sure that the ground pork is not lumped up.


As soon as pork starts to cook, add the tofu, still stirring.


Wait a couple of minutes and add bean sprouts. This is also the time to put in celery. If you choose Chinese parley, that should go in after the beansprouts are half way done. If cilantro is what you use, you only put that in at the very end of your cooking after the heat is turned off.


While bean sprouts are cooking, you may want to speed it up by covering the skillet with a lid. But, either way it doesn't take long. You will see that as the sprouts cook they will release a lot of liquid. Taste, and see if you need to add maybe one more spoon of towjiew. Please be careful, as it can get very salty. If you are not sure, add one tablespoon of nampla instead.


Turn off the heat before the bean sprouts are completely cooked. We don't want to lose the crunchy texture (I know, I hated that when I was young, but we've got to make it right and it will taste good). They will continue cooking after the heat is off, anyway.





Done. Delicious, and full of nutrition. Yummy! Serve with rice, steamed or boiled (soup). Or, serve along with your other Thai favorites, such as ghangkiewwannua - green beef curry. (Please see my recipe.) As a diet food, get a pair of chopsticks (because it takes forever to pick with them and you will get tired so you might eat less) and dive into the stir-fry without any rice!


Let me know how you make out with this dish. Thank you. Have a Chef-Me-NOT!!! day, and please make sure to tweet this page!

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