Soya bean sprouts are one of the most common and popular vegetables in Korean cuisine. They are known as kongnamul in Korean, and this salad is Kongnamul-muchim.
Soya bean sprouts are always cooked before eating, which takes away a musty, fishy odour, and leaves them tasting fresh and nutty. About 1/2 cup of Yellow Soy seeds will produce roughly one pound of finished sprouts, which is the amount called for in this recipe. We trim the root off of each sprout before cooking, leaving a stem about 6cm (2 1/2″) long, with the first pair of leaves (cotyledon) just opening. Aim for harvesting five days after beginning the sprouting process — or buy a bag of sprouts from any Korean grocery!
1 lb soya bean sprouts, trimmed, rinsed and dried
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 scallion, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper flakes (try to find the Korean ones!)
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
2 teaspoons sesame oil
Add the sprouts to a clean cooking pot with the sea salt and 1/2 cup water. Cover and bring to a boil on medium high heat for 10 minutes. Then leave the sprouts to cool and drain in a colander.
Combine the sprouts with the remaining ingredients, and toss or mix by hand. The garlic and hot pepper flakes want to be evenly distributed. Transfer to a serving dish and enjoy with rice or other Korean recipes.