Mung Bean Sprouts Stir-Fried with Tofu

Brace yourself. Here come another two weird Asian ingredients that you will either love or hate:

• Mung bean sprouts
• Tofu

How does that sound? Good or bad? I say good. Let’s talk a little bit about these ingredients, shall we?

The Mung Bean Sprouts

I’ve come across so many people in life who hate these babes with a passion. In Thailand we use mung bean sprouts in our stir-fried noodles and noodle soups a lot. People who hate mung bean sprouts will order anything that normally comes with them without them. And if they ever see one accidental white strand in their food, many of them will go as far as returning it.

It’s certainly not their fault if they have specifically said they don’t want bean sprouts. Besides, I know so well that mung bean sprouts have this smell that makes them great. Or horrible. It depends which side you’re on. 😉 If you’ve never tried them, I suggest you try and see for yourself. If you don’t like them, I don’t think this dish will convert you unfortunately. 🙁

The Tofu

Mung Bean Sprout Stir-Fry is one of the most common vegetarian dishes here in Thailand. For as long as I can remember, I’ve never eaten a version with meat. I’m sure some people use pork in it and it’s fine, but I can’t imagine myself enjoying stir-fried bean sprouts with meat. More often than not, we just go with the vegetables (mung bean sprouts and green onions). But sometimes we will add tofu as an extra source of protein. There are MANY types of tofu, and again you can use any type you want. I don’t recommend anything soft, though, as it will break when you stir.

Personally, I like to use fried tofu because it has a fun, chewy texture. Also, there are a lot of air pockets in it, which means it will absorb the liquid in the stir-fry and won’t taste bland. At most local Thai markets, you can get fried tofu in strings. Those tofu squares you see in the picture above are from just a string and as cheap as 25 baht. Yes, all of that! As they normally hang these tofu strings out in the air, I recommend soaking the tofu and squeezing the water out a few times before use for hygienic reasons.

Here’s another important question. What can you enjoy mung bean sprout stir-fry with?

Rice – As simple as that. We eat most Thai dishes with rice. Although you can just have stir-fried mung bean sprouts with rice, I think most of us usually have another dish that’s a bit more flavorful in the same meal. This could be a curry or a spicy Thai salad. Just to balance things out, you know.

Plain congee – Mung bean sprout stir-fry is great with plain congee (or kao tom in Thai). When we have plain congee, we don’t ever have it with one side dish. In other words, we go big, we don’t go home! The mung bean sprout stir-fry is more of a high-fiber side, and you might also have things like the Thai egg salad and Thai garlic pork to eat the congee with as well.

So, I hope you’ve learned a bit more about how we make and enjoy this quick and easy mung bean sprout stir-fry in Thailand. If you’re a fan of mung bean sprouts, give this recipe a try. You’ll love it!

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