Pages

Monday, February 13, 2012

Sprouting: Day 7

Day 7
Day 7 and it's time to eat my sprouts!  You don't want to grow your sprouts too long, because they may get bitter.  Ideal sprout length is between 2 1/2 to 4 inches.

My picture does not do these sprouts justice; I would say my 4 tbsp of seeds yielded about 2 1/2 cups of sprouts!

I dumped the sprouts into a bowl filled with water.  This allowed those green skins/hulls to float to the surface while my sprouts dropped to the bottom.  I skimmed off the hulls and threw my sprouts into my salad spinner to aid in their drying.  Getting rid of the hulls is an optional step, they are edible and you probably won't even notice them.

Then I laid the sprouts out on paper towels until I was confident they were dry.  Then off to a freezer ziplock bag they went, with a paper towel to remove moisture and into the frig, where they should keep for about 7 days.

If it weren't the dead of winter and I could get access to some reliable sunlight, I would have left my sprouts in the sun for at least 15 minutes.  Not only helping them dry but to activates the enzymes that produce chlorophyll A and allow the sprout's leaves to turn green.  But, they will be just fine without it for now.

Be sure to inspect your sprouts for mold, if it is present, throw away your sprouts.  I know this can be hard (you've bonded), but better safe than sorry.  If you rinsed and drained properly, odds are this will never happen.

Now, I have to say that these Mung Bean Sprouts are nothing like you buy in the store and what I previously wrote about so affectionately.  I'm not enjoying these sprouts as much, they don't taste so great alone, are much smaller and have a bite to them.  Also, they taste "green", which is the only way I can figure how to articulate their flavor.  I can only imagine that I am so used to eating "old" food, that fresh food is foreign to my palette.  I am not going to give up, though!  I am happy to say that they virtually disappeared in my daily wrap, so all is good!

I hope my adventures in sprouting have inspired you to give it a try.

Happy Sprouting!
The Hoff

No comments:

Post a Comment