Bean Sprout Salad

Bean sprouts - not the sexiest of vegetables. In fact I find them kind of unpleasant. But I learned a new method of preparing them and I was mighty impressed. Blanch them - a brief dip in boiling water made them silky! I was amazed at how much more palatable, enjoyable, even, the sprouts became.

Serve these bean sprouts as a side dish to your favourite stir fry. Perhaps they are still not sexy, but now bean sprouts can at least be tasty!

Bean Sprout Salad
adapted from Simple Chinese Cooking by Kylie Kwong
serves 4 as a side dish

The trick here is to blanch the bean sprouts before tossing them with a simple dressing.

500 g bean sprouts
2 T soy sauce
1 t sugar
1 large green chilli pepper, sliced
1/2 t sesame oil
1 T peanut oil

Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil.
Blanch the bean sprouts (possibly working batches depending on the size of your pan) for 30 seconds.
Remove and drain well.

Mix the soy sauce, sugar, green chilli pepper, and sesame oil in a small bowl.
Put the peanut oil in the still hot, but empty (and off the heat) saucepan for a minute to become hot. Then pour the peanut oil into the dressing and mix well.
Toss with the bean sprouts.

Other recipes that use bean sprouts:
Vietnamese summer rolls
Ginger noodle soup
Vegan sprout bowl with creamy curry sauce - from Healthful Pursuit
Paleo pad Thai - from Against All Grain
Mushroom, bean sprouts, and rocket salad - from Salad Pride
How to grow your own sprouts - from Adventures in Local Food

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