Thursday, March 8, 2012

Soybean Sprout Namul (Banchan: Korean Side Dishes)

This is the next post in my Korean banchan (side dishes) series. The last recipe featured Korean Chive Sangchae, basically a marinated chive salad.

Namul dishes usually refer to steamed or stir-fried vegetables, and the soybean sprouts are quickly boiled and then stir-fried for just  a bit. Here is a picture of the washed, untrimmed beansprouts.



Soybean Sprout Namul

Ingredients
  • 2 cups organic soybean sprouts
  • Olive oil
  • Korean chili powder, to taste
  • Black pepper, to taste
  • 2 tsp sesame oil
Directions
  1. Wash the beansprouts and trim off the ends. (That’s the time-consuming part of this dish)
  2. Bring a pot of water to boil and add a little salt, add the beansprouts and boil them for 3 minutes.
  3. Spray a frying pan with vegetable oil and add the drained beansprouts and sauté for about 30 seconds.
  4. Add the chili powder and black pepper and stir well.
  5. Drizzle with a little sesame oil.
  6. Chill before serving.



You can make this dish as spicy or mild as you like. I usually adjust the spiciness depending on how hot the other dishes we are eating are.

Questions: Have you ever had beansprouts? If so, how were they prepared? Did you like them?

Be well,
Andrea