Mung bean sprouts or germinated mung beans without using sprouter or jar! Using just a fine mesh strainer or colander you can easily grow mung bean sprouts using dried whole mung beans (green mung beans with skin on) which is great to be used in salads, stir fried mung bean sprouts, dal soups etc as you like! I made this nutritious, homemade mung bean sprouts during the cold winter month (January) so this is proof that you can easily make mung bean sprouts at home even during cold winter months despite the freezing low temperatures outside as you can easily make them indoor in your kitchen countertop without any sprouting equipment using just a fine mesh strainer!
I always recommend cooking any homemade sprouts slightly for safety reasons prior to using them, though you can make the decision yourself based on all factors and if you are used to handling sprouts in general.
If you are a beginner to making mung bean sprouts or any sprouts, I definitely recommend you cook them for few minutes. However, it's always necessary to thoroughly rinse and clean any sprouts before consuming them for the best results!
how long to grow mung bean sprouts?
Mung beans grow sprouts start to appear quickly in a few hours (after you soaked them in water for 8 to 12 hours) and you can get perfect mung bean sprouts in about 3 days time. Based on your preference for the length of the sprouts, you can continue to grow the sprouts from anywhere between 3 to 5 days, after which typically the leaves begin to develop. So unless you want to grow them into microgreens or plants, it's a good idea to stop sprouting them at the 5 day mark.
If you want shorter sprouts, you can stop sprouting at 3 days and for long lengthy sprouts, you can sprout for about 5 days typically (although a couple of days variation can happen based on the seeds, the environment used to sprout including the temperature, humidity etc).
more mung bean recipes:
how to sprout mung beans in a colander or mesh strainer?
ingredients used to make mung bean sprouts
mung beans 2 cups (dried whole mung beans with green skin on them)
water as needed to soak and rinse during the process
step by step instructions to sprout or grow mung beans in colander or fine mesh strainer
Step 1 - Place the dried whole mung beans in a large bowl or container and add enough water to soak the mung beans. Cover this and let it soak for overnight or for about 8 to 12 hours.
Step 2 - Once the soking is done, discard the water used for soaking and rinse the mung beans well.
Step 3 - Now transfer the soaked mung beans to a large size colander or mesh strainer(the mung beans will increase in size as they sprout so make sure the colander or strainer is large enough to hold them).
Step 4 - Place the colander or strainer on top of a different container that can catch any water drippings from the colander/strainer.
Step 5 - Now take a wet kitchen towel (paper towel or fine cloth or cheese cloth will work) and place this over the strainer to cover the mung beans. Make sure the wet kitchen towel is touching the mung beans as this will help retain the moisture content in the mung beans. Now we have perfectly set the environment for sprouting the mung beans! Let this mung beans sprout for another 2 to 3 days until it reach enough growth based on your preference! The only thing and the most important thing that you need to do while they sprout is this - make sure to sprinkle water on them every few hours! I usually just gently run cold tap water (by holding the strainer in the kitchen sink) over the kitchen towel so the water goes through the strainer. Let any water drippings fall into the kitchen sink and then keep the strainer back on top of the container so any remaining water drippings will be caught by the container!
Step 6 - Continue this process for another 3 days for the best mung bean sprouts! I like to wash the sprouts very well and cook them just like I cook the mung beans for soups, stir fries, dal etc as I like the taste more while they are cooked.
You may also enjoy them raw with salads if you wish (after you wash them very well), however, sprouts carry an increased risk of contamination from bacteria, so I prefer them cooked! In case there's any symptoms that they are contaminated or if there's mold you should discard them for safety reasons, as you should do with any sprouts or any food in general. You can cook them in many different ways including steaming (for 2 to 3 minutes), stir frying for few minutes, scramble with eggs etc as you like!
I used some of this sprouted mung beans to make stir fried mung bean sprouts!
Mung Bean Sprouts, Sprouting Mung Bean In Colander Or Strainer
Ingredients
- 2 cups mung beans dried whole mung beans with green skin on them
- water as needed to soak and rinse during the process
Instructions
- Place the dried whole mung beans in a large bowl or container and add enough water to soak the mung beans. Cover this and let it soak for overnight or for about 8 to 12 hours.
- Once the soking is done, discard the water used for soaking and rinse the mung beans well.
- Now transfer the soaked mung beans to a large size colander or mesh strainer(the mung beans will increase in size as they sprout so make sure the colander or strainer is large enough to hold them).
- Place the colander or strainer on top of a different container that can catch any water drippings from the colander/strainer.
- Now take a wet kitchen towel (paper towel or fine cloth or cheese cloth will work) and place this over the strainer to cover the mung beans. Make sure the wet kitchen towel is touching the mung beans as this will help retain the moisture content in the mung beans. Now we have perfectly set the environment for sprouting the mung beans! Let this mung beans sprout for another 2 to 3 days until it reach enough growth based on your preference! The only thing and the most important thing that you need to do while they sprout is this - make sure to sprinkle water on them every few hours! I usually just gently run cold tap water (by holding the strainer in the kitchen sink) over the kitchen towel so the water goes through the strainer. Let any water drippings fall into the kitchen sink and then keep the strainer back on top of the container so any remaining water drippings will be caught by the container!
- Continue this process for another 3 days for the best mung bean sprouts! I like to wash the sprouts very well and cook them just like I cook the mung beans for soups, stir fries, dal etc as I like the taste more while they are cooked.
Leave a Reply