We like to eat bean sprouts, but in order to get decent sprouts we used to have to drive to the Asian foods market in Salem, where frequent produce turnover insures fresher sprouts. There are sprouts available in local markets but they are in smaller packages that don't seem to be produced locally, and aren't usually that fresh. We don't make the trip to Salem very often, but still wanted to eat fresh sprouts on a regular basis. The solution was to simply grow our own. We have been growing them successfully for a few months now and have learned some of the the secrets to growing good sprouts.
mung beans are easy to sprout at home, if you know a few simple tricks.
It only takes about a half cup of mung beans for each gallon jar of sprouts. This is a great way to get some fresh vegetables in the darkness of winter. They do most of their growing in the dark anyway.
They are wonderful in a stir fry, a salad, or in your soup.
Just to wet your appetite, I created a youtube for making plain a egg roll.
Sprouts and eggs make a great combination for an appetizer, bon appetite.
Click the link to see the movie!
use your back button when the movie is over to return here and learn how to grow sprouts!
So here are the directions for Growing Sprouts:
Soak your mung beans. You will need about a 1/2 cup of mung beans for each gallon jar. Rinse them well in a big bowl of cold water. We soak our beans for a day to a day and a half in the bowl. It is important to rinse them. Change the water a few times each day to keep the water fresh. The beans will tan the water like when you make sun tea, also some bubbles will appear on the surface of the water as the beans release some proteins and starches into the water, which could lead to the water spoiling . . . the beans are happier in fresh water.
You will need some equipment, but, it is easy to make while the beans soak.
We are using plastic gallon jars, they are lighter and don't make a mess when we drop them on the concrete, but most importantly they warm up more quickly than glass jars when we place them back in the racks after rinsing.
(Added Note: We are in Oregon and the climate is cool here, so the plastic has been working well for us, However if you are having trouble with spoiling, and are living in a warm and humid climate, like in Georgia for example, Glass jars would probably be a better choice, as they will stay cooler and be easier to keep sanitary, especially in the sticky heat, Also watch the airflow in your growing area, the sprouts need to breath.)
You will be rinsing the beans frequently so put a screen on the jar to make it easier to fill with water, and empty again, without spilling the beans.
We are using the mesh bags that our garlic came in, and elastic to help hold them on, If you have big rubber bands from Broccoli (White or Blue) or Asparagus (Purple) you could use those.
Whatever you use, hold your hand on top when you dump water out of the jar so you don't end up pouring the beans down the drain, they could still sprout in the drain, but you won't want to eat them when you get them back out of the pipe, trust me, I know.
We hung the rack in a dark, warm spot (around 70 degrees), behind the water heater. I believe that a lot of our success in growing Mung Beans is because of finding a warm, spot with good air flow. I don't think they would do as well in a small closet for example.
When we put the jars in the pots we pull a curtain that is light weight enough to allow good air flow, yet dark enough to keep out the light. We used a black silk bathrobe that doesn't fit either of us, but was too nice to get rid of, if you still have your old graduation robe, that would probably work too. (Bet you thought you would never use that robe again, did you?)
HERE IS THE IMPORTANT PART:
Rinse the spouts with cold water. It might seem funny to chill the beans, and then put them in a warm place, but I think that warming and cooling are part of the growing process, like when the beans are in the ground as it warms, and cools during the day/night cycle.
Turn the faucet to full so the turbulence gently scrubs the sprouts clean. Swirl the jar around and repeat if the water is cloudy, when the water is clear, fill the jar with cold water.
Give the sprouts a good drink by leaving the jars to sit full of water for 5 to 10 minutes. Letting them drink this way helps the sprouts grow fatter and crunchier.
After the sprouts drink. empty the jars and put them in the rack.
After a day or two the sprouts will outgrow the husks, which will float to the tops of the jars during rinsing. Skim these off they just get in the way, and could cause the water to spoil.
Rinse the sprouts three to four times a day, When you wake up, when you go to bed and a couple times in between. As the sprouts grow they will cloud the water and want to be rinsed even more thoroughly.
The reason that it is so important to rinse is that the sprouts are growing in an unnatural environment,(a jar), normally sprouts are in the dirt and digest stuff in the dirt by producing enzymes. Without dirt to digest, the enzymes start to work on the sprouts themselves, which get slimy and then spoil.
It is important to get the jars really clean between uses, any dried sprout residue will reconstitute and spoil the next batch.
When they are done (4 to 5 days) Rinse them in a large basin to remove the loose hulls that float to the top, shake or spin them dry, and put them in a plastic bag in the refrigerator, for the first few days they will be great fresh in salads, after that, in the stir fry, and after that soup. After the soup stage comes the chicken stage, where you feed them to the chickens. After the Chicken Stage your next batch should be ready so you can go back to salads again.
If anything goes wrong and they come out a little off, too tough or small and heady, feed them to your chickens, if you don't have any chickens, get some chickens. If your town doesn't allow chickens, move to another town, and get some chickens. I cannot stress this enough, Everybody should have chickens!
But, don't give up, grow more sprouts! Keep trying until you find out what didn't work for you.
3/16/10
