Usually served as a panchan (side dish or small appetizer), this makes a fine little salad, too. Like many panchan, it contains sesame oil. To trim bean sprouts—a process I consider unnecessary but many people worldwide believe essential—simply pull off the thin little tail.
Recipe information
Yield
makes 6 or more servings
Ingredients
Salt
1 pound mung or soybean sprouts, trimmed if you like
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds (page 596)
2 scallions, trimmed and minced
Preparation
Step 1
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil and add salt. Poach the sprouts in this water for about 1 minute; drain and immediately toss with the soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, and sugar.
Step 2
Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding salt or more soy sauce or sesame oil if you like. Serve or refrigerate and serve cold, garnished with the sesame seeds and scallions.
The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman. © 2005 by Mark Bittman. Published by Broadway Books. All Rights Reserved.
MARK BITTMAN is the author of the blockbuster The Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.
