I love mung bean sprouts and growing them at home rather than buying them ensures they are super fresh, crunchy and last for up to a week stored in the refrigerator. They are particularly delicious on Vietnamese Pho soup so when I intend to make a big pot of pho soup broth, I alway start growing mung bean sprouts a few days before.

I have learned a few tricks to get the juiciest sprouts possible. I use organic mung beans. After washing them and picking out any bad beans, I soak them for 24 hours before I start the sprouting process. This batch I sprouted about a half cup of sprouts in a litre mason jar with a sprouting lid. They grew and filled the jar tightly and it appeared being tightly packed during the last day or two helped make them plumper!

Mung bean sprouts love water and they do not need light as they are white sprouts. I sprout them in my food cupboard and after their 24 hour soak, I rinse them about every 2 hours during the day or as often as I remember. Make sure to pour out all the water after each rinse. If you wake up at night, give them a rinse! I inevitably forget to rinse them sometimes or I am out for more than a couple of hours during the day which is fine. I have found they like to be rinsed every 2-4 hours. They are ready to harvest when they start to grow long. If you leave them too long, they start to grow roots! It takes about 5 days for them to be ready.

Once mature, empty them in to an airtight container and store them in the refrigerator. I like to let them dry out over night before I harvest them so they are fairly dry when stored as they will last longer.