The Lemon Fool

I have some mung beans that have been soaking for several days. I had expected them to sprout: indeed, some of them were due for use three days ago in the stuffing for the baked mushrooms.

Today I gave up waiting for them to sprout. But squeezing a sample indicated they felt ready to eat despite that. And using them in this evening's stir-fry worked nicely: they were indeed good. I have another portion, and will probably use them to stuff mushrooms (or something) again sometime in the next couple of days.

But what would cause them not to sprout? In the past, about three days in water and they're nicely sprouted and ready to use. This time, more than double that and they're usable but not sprouted. I wonder if they've been sitting in my cupboard too long?

how much growth are you aiming for?

for the big ol' "bean sprouts" a Singaporean flat mate I had as a student used to do them in a big jar by the window
- the lid was pierced in a few places
- and the jar filled and left upside down to drain a few times a day

so they didn't soak per se but were always damp and in the light; it took a few days but the results were impressive!

I don't think he used particularly fresh beans
- he was a buy in bulk kind of a guy; a 10kg hessian bag of rice being more than double that after he'd walked half way across sheffield in the pouring rain

- sd

Well, I've occasionally taken them to full-on beansprout in the past. But more usually I'll stop earlier, maybe with tails averaging 2-3mm. Visual reassurance that they're not going to be hard-as-gravel.

Happy to report that the non-sprouted beans not only had good texture and flavour, but haven't produced fragrant morning-after side-effects that one might get from inadequately-prepared pulses.