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Soybean Sprouts with Black Bean Sauce

Stir fried soybean sprouts make a healthy, yet tasty side dish if you're planning a quick and easy Asian meal. The bean sprouts are seasoned with black bean sauce and soy sauce. Baby spinach is added for a nice contrast in color.

Soybean sprouts are a lot harder to get than regular mung bean sprouts. The sprouts are much larger and have a yellow color, whereas mung bean sprouts are green. I buy mine at a local Korean store. It's definitely worth the effort to find them though, because soybean sprouts give the dish an extra dimension of flavor.

Ingredients

Yields: 4 servings

1 (17.63-ounce) package soybean sprouts
1-½ tablespoons canola oil
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 shallot, sliced
2 teaspoons black bean garlic sauce
1 tablespoon Ponzu soy sauce
1 cup fresh baby spinach leaves (pre-packaged), coarsely chopped
¼ teaspoon white pepper, freshly ground
1 tablespoons cilantro (optional), coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon sesame oil

Directions

Wash the bean sprouts and drain through a salad spinner. This step is essential if you want crunchy, non-soggy bean sprouts.

In a wok, heat the oil. Add the shallots and cook until slightly golden. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Add the soybean sprouts, the black bean sauce and soy sauce. Quickly stir-fry for about 2 minutes by tossing them in a circular motion over high heat (the pan should be lifted in a low angle to facilitate the movement). Add the spinach, cilantro and white pepper. Toss constantly until all the leaves are wilted. Remove from the heat.

Finish with a dash of sesame oil. This will give a nice fragrance to the dish.

I served the soybean sprout stir fry with some hot and spicy pan-cooked quail.

Serve immediately. Eat with chopsticks .

Enjoy!

Tips

I buy soybean sprouts in a Korean store. Check out Galleria, located at 3531 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, CA 95061. The soybean sprouts there are organic. If you can't find any you could also use the smaller-sized mung bean sprouts, which you can find in Asian markets.

I use Ponzu soy sauce; it's lemony and less salty than regular soy sauce.

I use store-bought Lee Kum Kee brand black bean sauce.

Published By: Jacqueline Pham on April 11, 2010.