Q&A for How to Cook Bean Sprouts

Yes, it’s very important to wash bean sprouts before eating them. Wash your hands with warm water and soap, then rinse the sprouts thoroughly under cool, drinking-quality water. Make sure to wash any utensils or food preparation surfaces thoroughly before and after preparing your sprouts, and keep the sprouts away from possible sources of contamination, such as raw meat.

Yes, bean sprouts are great sources of protein, as well as vitamins and minerals such as folic acid, vitamin C, and vitamin K. As long as you prepare them safely, they can be an excellent addition to your diet.

It is possible to get food poisoning from bean sprouts, especially if you eat them raw. This is because they are grown in warm, moist environments that encourage the growth of bacteria. They are also sometimes contaminated by dirty irrigation water or compost. If you eat the sprouts raw, wash them thoroughly. Otherwise, you can get rid of harmful bacteria by cooking your sprouts. Don’t eat raw sprouts if you’re pregnant or your immune system is compromised.

Yes, you can eat uncooked bean sprouts provided you are healthy and the bean sprouts have been properly prepared. Wash your hands before handling the sprouts. Rinse the sprouts first under cool, running water, to clean them (some people rinse using apple cider vinegar for additional disinfecting; do not soak if you use vinegar or it'll change the taste). If cutting them, ensure that the cutting board or surface is absolutely clean. Wash your hands again after handling. Young children, the elderly, pregnant women and anyone with compromised immunity should stay away from raw bean sprouts, as the risk of bacterial infection is high. Cooking destroys any bacteria that might be found on bean sprouts, so if in doubt, cook them.

Bean sprouts will go limp and mushy when they're no longer good to eat. They tend to mush together in the package, look and feel slimy and don't smell very good either. If you press them, they won't feel hard but will disintegrate some more. When they have gone bad, throw them away as they are no longer nutritious or safe to eat.

No, you don't need to remove any bits off the bean sprout, as every part of a bean sprout is edible. It would be a very tedious job trying to remove a lot of pieces off bean sprouts! Just be sure to wash them properly before using.

One quick way of ensuring that the crispiness of bean sprouts keeps when storing them is to keep them in a "bath." Choose a suitable container for adding them to and add the bean sprouts. Fill with water until the bean sprouts are submerged. Carefully move this to the refrigerator to store. The beans will stay crisp when stored like this, for up to 5 days.

If they're prepackaged, they should keep for at least a week. If they're canned, they should last for a while. If they're fresh, I would recommend eating them within a few days.

Yes. Always rinse raw produce, whether you are cooking it or not. The majority of food poisoning is from unwashed produce.

Yes. Canned sprouts have a lot of sodium in them. Like any other canned vegetable, it's always best to rinse them with water to remove all that unhealthy sodium!

You can add raw bean sprouts to already cooked fried rice provided you don't mind the taste. In fact, this can add some delicious crunch initially (although the warmth of the fried rice will cook them and make them softer the longer they sit there). Just be sure to wash them carefully, as they can harbor bacteria.

During the canning process, they're shoved closely together and preserved. They need to be moved around during cooking.

Restaurants have their own special equipment and methods for cooking, and tend to add different sauces and spices.

Yes, you can.