I love bean sprouts. They're delicious and a great source of nutrition. Just the act of sprouting beans increases their nutrition. It also makes their nutrients more bio-available because the first step, soaking, removes phytic acids which interfere with nutrient absorption.
A while back my friend Jen asked me how to make them. She had been interested in doing it but was afraid it was too difficult. She wanted pictures to show her how it was done. I promised that the next time I made bean sprouts I would take pictures and share the process.
This is a batch of lentil, adzuki, mung bean sprouts. You can use any beans you like depending on what you have handy in your pantry. I almost always have mung beans and lentils so I use those a lot. The other beans vary. I usually make a bean sprout mix with anywhere from three to five different kinds of beans.
Start by putting a small handful of each of the different beans into a colander and picking them over. Dry beans frequently have small rocks, little clumps of dirt or other debris in the package, it's important to sort through them before you use them.
Karen, I forgot to mention, the oven DOES NOT COME ON. That’s why I have the sprouts note…it’s to prevent people from preheating the oven and killing my bean sprouts, LOL.
Hi Karen,
It’s partially about the darkness, but more about the insulated space so there is no draft. You want the sprouts to stay warm which encourages them to grow. An oven (or microwave oven) provides a fairly stable temperature with no drafts.
you don’t turn the oven on at all correct?
Wondering if you could also put the bowl in a cabinet. Is it about the darkness?
Not a silly question. You can eat the whole thing, bean and sprout. The bean part has been broken down a little bit by all of the soaking and then the sprouting helps also.
It’s crunchy, but deliciously so.
I have a silly question…
Would one eat the actual bean or just the sprout?