5 Minute Korean Bean Sprout side dish

Can you boil water?  If so, you can make this bean sprout side dish found in nearly every Korean restaurant.

Serve these simple sprouts alongside a vegan Korean tofu soup, kimchi pork stir fry, or vegan kimchi fried rice.

But first, let’s answer the vital question of what the heck these bean sprouts are.

What is a mung bean sprout?

• It is a sprout from a whole green mung bean.
• Mung beans can also be yellow, but only the green ones will sprout.
• Buy them fresh, not frozen.  They come packaged in plastic bags to keep them fresh.
• If it is old, you will see the tips will have browned (pictured below).
• If you have time, pick off the browned, old tips before cooking.

Make it because…

• It’s easy to make
• Mung bean sprouts are cheap.  At my store, a 12oz bag is 99 cents or $1.99 for organic.
• The pot you use to boil the sprouts is easy to clean.

How to make Korean bean sprouts

Step 1: Boil water

Step 2: Add sprouts to the boiling water.

Step 3: Bring water back to a boil

Step 4: Drain

Step 5: Season

Mix drained sprouts with:

• sesame oil
• salt
• Korean chili flakes

Garnish with:

• toasted sesame seeds
• sliced green onion

Other variations to try

• This is also traditionally made with soybean sprouts, which have a bright yellow bean head at the top.  However, those are harder to find.
• You could also add minced raw garlic if you dare…(or just love garlic)

How long can you keep this dish?

Make it the day before.

Keep in the fridge for 2-3 days.

Add to the table as a crunchy little pickle-like pick me up to your meal.

How to make it better @home

1. Add a minced raw garlic clove if you like garlic
2. Make sure to pick off the dead brown ends of the sprouts
3. Once you buy a bag of mung bean sprouts, use it within a few days.  It will start to get rot quickly.
4. Make ahead and keep for up to 3 days in the fridge.
5. Try a variation of this with soybean sprouts instead of mung bean sprouts

Other Easy Side Dishes

Vegan Vampire White Cucumbers

Easiest Ever Korean Sesame Spinach side dish

Fish Fragrant Fairy Tale Eggplant – Vegan

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5 minute Korean Bean Sprouts

Can you boil water?  If so, you can make this easy side dish, found in nearly every Korean restaurant. 

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Korean

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Servings 4

Calories 35kcal

Author Asian Test Kitchen

Ingredients

• ▢ 4 heaping cups mung bean sprouts 9 oz

Dressing

• ▢ 1 Tb sesame oil
• ▢ 1 tsp kosher salt
• ▢ 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
• ▢ 1/2 tsp Korean red chili flakes
• ▢ 2 Tb sliced green onion optional garnish

Instructions

• Bring pot of water to a boil.  It doesn't really matter how much.  But big enough to hold all the sprouts once added to the pot. 
• Add mung bean sprouts to the pot.  
• Wait for the water to come back to a rolling boil. Boil sprouts for 30 seconds to 1 minute. 
• Drain the pot into a colander in the sink.  Squeeze out excess water as necessary, so it doesn't dilute the seasoning. 
• Transfer drained sprouts to a bowl.  Toss with sesame oil, salt, and sesame seeds.  Add more salt to taste as needed.  

Notes

1. Add a minced raw garlic clove if you like garlic
2. Make sure to pick off the dead brown ends of the sprouts
3. Once you buy a bag of mung bean sprouts, use it within a few days.  It will start to get rot quickly.
4. Make ahead and keep for up to 3 days in the fridge.
5. Try a variation of this with soybean sprouts instead of mung bean sprouts

 

Nutrition

Calories: 35kcal | Fat: 3g | Sodium: 586mg | Vitamin A: 105IU | Vitamin C: 0.6mg | Calcium: 5mg | Iron: 0.1mg

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