Martin Yan - BEAN SPROUTS

"The more you understand the ingredients, the better cook you will become."
-Martin Yan

These are common ingredients found in local cuisine. You can find these ingredients readily available in your local supermarket.

BEAN SPROUTS

Fresh bean sprouts, both mung and soy, have bright silver white bodies with yellow heads and long tails. Soy bean sprouts have larger heads and are crunchier. Fancy restaurants typically remove the head and root portion from the sprouts before cooking to give dishes a clean look, but both the head and root are completely edible and are quite nutritious.

Asians prefer eating bean sprouts stir-fried or boiled with very little seasoning. Try tossing bean sprouts in noodle dishes and fresh salads. Just rinse them with water to clean and remove any unwanted woody green seed hulls before using.

Choose dry, firm, unbroken white bean sprouts. Mung bean sprouts are available in all supermarkets but soy bean sprouts may be a bit harder to find. Sprouts are best used the same day of purchase but they can be refrigerated in a plastic bag with its end opened for up to a couple of days.