I decided to try a Korean banchan recipe. It's fairly typical for Koreans to make large portions and keep whatever's leftover in the fridge to serve as a healthy snack ... which I've done today. I found the recipe online somewhere.
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| To the uninitiated, they may not look super delicious. To them I say: trust me. |
First, I rinsed the sprouts. I bought 380g for only a few thousand won, pretty cheap by any standard. I had to remove a few bad ones, but mostly it was easy with no dirt or bugs. Then I blanched the sprouts in boiling water for about 1 minute. This part is the hardest because you want them to be only very slightly soft. I think I may have blanched them for too long.Next I rinsed them and added a sauce.
For the sauce I used:
1 finely chopped spring onion (though "finely" is vague for me. i'm a bit lazy with chopping sometimes)
1-2 tablespoons of minced garlic. the recipe called for less but we love garlic!
1 tsp seasame seeds (again i added more because i didn't have fresh seeds, so the taste isn't as strong)
1 tbsp sesame oil
(Also, the recipe called for salt. I didn't add any, but I should've added a bit)
Combine the rinsed sprouts with the sauce and eat! Or, stick it in the fridge for later.
A few thoughts. I didn't use exactly the right kind of onion. This is partly laziness, because I'm pretty sure the supermarket carries the right kind but they seemed to be out of stock. The onions I used are more like chives. It's still tasty (with big herby flavor), but it's a bit less traditional. Also, salt. Just a pinch would improve them. Finally, I overcooked the sprouts. It was only slightly, maybe 30 seconds or so, but it was too long. They're not soft and slimy, but they would benefit from a more careful eye on the big pot!
I would recommend this recipe and I'm sure the bulk of these will end up in bibimbap later this week!
Blanching is tough!
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