Bean Sprouts

More properly called mung bean sprouts, these are the deliciously crispy, white-gold sprouts grown from dried and soaked green mung beans. At their best, they will be pure white-gold and erect, without a trace of limpness or brown. The sort you buy in a store is often 1½–2 inches long (a bit longer than if you sprout the beans at home), with a threadlike tail and often a pair of tiny yellow “horns” growing from the burst seed case. They are best bought loose from a store that has them delivered fresh daily, or directly from the tofu factory that produces them. Do not confuse mung bean sprouts with the thicker soybean sprouts grown from large yellow soybeans. You will know instantly which is which by looking at the “head” of the sprout.