Soybean sproutsKongnamul 콩나물

Step 1

Rinse the soybeans in cold water and soak for 24 hours.Pick out dead beans or broken beans and put the cleaned soybeans into a planter that has small holes in the bottom.Pour water over the planter, little by little, till the beans are wet evenly. The water will drop out the holes in the bottom but the beans will be wet.Cover the planter with a black cloth to keep the light out. If too much light gets in, the beans will turn green instead of a nice yellow color.Repeat watering every 3 or 4 hours for 4 to 6 days until the beans grow about 4 inches.Rinse the sprouts a couple of times and drain. Drain and store them in the refrigerator.

Step 2

WishfulsoUl Oslo joined 3/20 & has 17 commentsPosted April 17th, 2020 at 7:13 pm | Log in to reply. This thing is quite funny experience for me as I feel that I may be using a wrong variety of soybeans and nothing will happen to grow like yours Maangchi hahhaha but still I was really stubborn and eager to try out anyway see if there will be something to surprise me one morning… I was starting to be impatient waiting and waiting until 2 or 3 days before I noticed something white came out and had to water every after 3 or 4 hours even set an alarm in the middle of the night and dawn to water it up hahhaha. after 8 days, this was how they looks like :-) I was really happy and it was all worth the wait. was very nutty and crunchy I always have a bite every time I water them ^^_^^ Next time I will use the correct type for sprouting….See full size image Joebear30 Arizona joined 5/17 & has 3 commentsPosted June 30th, 2017 at 10:23 am | Log in to reply. Hello Maangchi,I made these last weekend and the flavor was amazing! I put them in my 킴치 찌개 which added an awesome nutty flavor and also made 반찬. These are so much better than store bought and well worth the wait for them.They grew kinda wild looking going all over the place but tasted 진짜 맛있어요!!!감사합니다 for an awesome recipe!JSee full size image Stupidman2009 Johor Bahru, Malaysia joined 7/14 & has 3 commentsPosted August 31st, 2014 at 11:43 am | Log in to reply. Hi Maangchi. Is there any difference between usual soybean and soybean for sprouting? Can I use usual soybean instead of soybean for sprouting because it is difficult to find it. snoogles Baltimore joined 5/14 & has 1 commentPosted May 7th, 2014 at 9:46 am | Log in to reply. Hi Maangchi, First of all, thanks so much for this site – you can really tell it’s a labor of love! I had a basic knowledge of Korean cooking but you’ve inspired me to try even more dishes. :)I had three questions… first, do you know if the soybeans for sprouting are non-GMO? Second, do you know where I can find a planter like yours? Or would a small plastic colander work? (Although I guess since they need to be encouraged to grow straight down, maybe not?) Third, does the holding container need to be glass, or does it not matter? Thanks in advance for your help – I’m super excited to try this!! Samimation United States joined 9/13 & has 3 commentsPosted September 12th, 2013 at 7:04 pm | Log in to reply. Im on day 3 of the growing, I just cooked some really quick to make a dish, boiled them the same ammount of time I do for store bought. The yellow beans at the top are much more crunchy and dont seem to cook as fast? Did I do something wrong when growing? Did I leave them growing too long? Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 12,051 commentsPosted September 13th, 2013 at 3:11 pm | Log in to reply. It sounds like your kongnamul growing went well. Congratulations!Homegrown kongnamul is much more delicious and nutty than store bought kongnamul. Cook it longer until it reaches your desired taste if you want. Samimation United States joined 9/13 & has 3 commentsPosted September 14th, 2013 at 8:50 pm | Log in to reply. Great thankyou, yes I have to boil these for 15+ minutes and store bought for only 2-3 Ive noticed. wan Singapore joined 1/10 & has 7 commentsPosted September 9th, 2013 at 1:12 am | Log in to reply. Hi Maangchitks so much! I have been hunting for ways to do this for more than a year already – and trying all sorts of buckets,. but you make it look so simple. Can;t wait to try it. I have got my beans all ready! Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 12,051 commentsPosted September 9th, 2013 at 5:16 pm | Log in to reply. good luck! You will have so much fun when you see how fast they grow. mykwan81 Singapore joined 4/17 & has 1 commentPosted April 25th, 2017 at 2:24 am | Log in to reply. Hi Wan,Where to buy soybean for sprouting in Singapore? Katralla Cleveland joined 6/13 & has 1 commentPosted June 27th, 2013 at 4:59 pm | Log in to reply. I am trying this with mung beans. I want to make sookjoo namul. I wanted to know if I should peal the beans after soaking them or should I leave them until they have sprouted? Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 12,051 commentsPosted August 2nd, 2013 at 12:23 pm | Log in to reply. no you don’t need to peel the skins from soybeans or mungbeans when you sprout them. indelibledotink Honolulu joined 5/11 & has 19 commentsPosted June 23rd, 2013 at 6:12 am | Log in to reply. hi maangchi, my kongnamul turned green! is it just a matter of light seeping in? will they taste the same? I am going to try another batch. Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 12,051 commentsPosted June 24th, 2013 at 2:00 pm | Log in to reply. yes, I think the beans were exposed to the light. They need to be in darkness. They will taste all right. indelibledotink Honolulu joined 5/11 & has 19 commentsPosted August 2nd, 2013 at 3:55 am | Log in to reply. maangchi! help! I made more batches of kongnamul and they started to rot. there was an odd smell with my first batch, but it was very mild. now I grew two more batches and the smell was very strong. the second two bunches went bad. jaylivg Houston joined 7/10 & has 107 commentsPosted June 11th, 2013 at 12:21 pm | Log in to reply. This is awesome Maangchi !! i think i might do this for our little project with Nick .. i think it’ll be fun . Plus we get to cook and eat the result ! Thanks for showing us how to grow them :) Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 12,051 commentsPosted June 11th, 2013 at 6:13 pm | Log in to reply. Olivia, yes, this is for hardcore Korean cooks like you and some of my other readers. I’m sure you are excited about growing your soybean sprouts! They taste better than store sold soybean sprouts. Let me know how yours turns out! jaylivg Houston joined 7/10 & has 107 commentsPosted June 25th, 2013 at 9:35 pm | Log in to reply. Hi Maangchi , On sunday i started making this .. they’re growing really good , today is day 4 , when i opened them this morning to water , i smelt something from there , is it supposed to be like this ? It’s a very light smell , sour smell .. everything looks good though , top to bottom . Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 12,051 commentsPosted June 25th, 2013 at 11:21 pm | Log in to reply. It sound like your kongnamul are growing well. The smell is usual. It smells because you can’t water it all the time. I think it’s time for you to harvest them. I can’t wait to see the photo. : ) jaylivg Houston joined 7/10 & has 107 commentsPosted June 26th, 2013 at 2:20 pm | Yes , i woke up and immediately checking my kongnamul , like you said it’s time to harvest them , they do have long legs LOL . I washed and put them in the plastic bag , then i shared the home grown kongnamul with a korean friend , and she shared her home made gochujang that she brought from Korea !! Food just brings people together !!! :D Thank you again for showing us how to grow them !! Peedee San luis obispo, CA joined 5/10 & has 5 commentsPosted June 8th, 2013 at 2:11 pm | Log in to reply. Thank you for posting this. I remember my father growing his own when I was a child using a bucket with holes, but I didn’t pay attention. Now I live in a small town where I have to drive 3 hours to get to a Korean market, so I can only buy 1 bag of kongnamul since it won’t keep for long in the fridge. Now I can grow my own & my daughters will love this project. Thanks Maangchi! Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 12,051 commentsPosted June 9th, 2013 at 8:31 am | Log in to reply. That’s awesome! Growing kongnamul will bring back a lot of good memories! Actually I have a bucket with holes to grow a large quantity of kongnamul, too! : ) But for the video, I used just 1 cup of dried kongnamulkong (dried soybeans for sprouting). Good luck with you and your daughters’ kongnamul project! Andra Alexa T Europe joined 4/13 & has 5 commentsPosted June 4th, 2013 at 4:50 pm | Log in to reply. Indeed – interesting post… awesome ideea to try! Now – what I want to know if there can be used some other types of beans… if the “soybean for sprouting” connot be found!!! There are parts of the world where it can be more than difficult to find out soybean for sprouting or it’s not something usual to find in markets… but if I’m looking at your shared ideea…maybe you can give us an answer… so It can be replaced with some other types of beans?! Anyway – excellent post! Nicole4ever Las Vegas, Nevada joined 2/11 & has 11 commentsPosted June 4th, 2013 at 1:49 pm | Log in to reply. Wow!!! That is so awesome. This is a perfect project to share with my kids. I never new you could grow them like that. Thank you Maangchi :) bexn Seattle joined 12/12 & has 2 commentsPosted June 4th, 2013 at 9:21 am | Log in to reply. What an incredibly timely post!! I’ve been trying to sprout my own soybeans ever since I discovered that my local market only carries sprouts grown from GMO seeds. (Yes, I know they’re supposed to be safe but I’d feel better waiting for the results of more independent and long term testing.) Thank you so much for your very clear directions. The first couple of times I tried, I used the wrong variety of soybeans not realizing that some are better than others for sprouting. I then purchased soybeans for sprouting from Sprout People, where I purchase my other sprouting seeds, but I could only get 1/4″ tail. Their directions are very different from yours. They recommend only soaking for 2-12 hours initially and only rinsing 2-3 times a day there after but then they like their soybean sprouts with a short tail. I can’t wait to give your directions a try. I’ve really missed eating your kongnamulguk (spicy vegetarian recipe) and have been wanting to add soybean sprouts to my stir-fries.Does your bag happen to specify which variety of soybean it is other just “soybean for sprouting”? I’ve read that the best sprouting varieties are Chief, Ebony, Illini, Lincoln, Richland, Peking, Cayuga and Otoot. If your bag specifies the variety, I thought I’d write to Sprout People to see if they use the same one though hopefully, I’ll have good luck with any of the sprouting varieties if I follow your directions.Thanks again for the great directions. I’ll let you know how mine come out. I’m going to go look for a good bowl to use today. Do you think a colander or Easy Sprout work or are larger holes needed in the bottom like yours? Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 12,051 commentsPosted June 7th, 2013 at 1:39 pm | Log in to reply. “I’ve read that the best sprouting varieties are Chief, Ebony, Illini, Lincoln, Richland, Peking, Cayuga and Otoot.” haha I don’t know anything about these strains. It sounds like you know a lot about beans and sprouting. What I do is go to a Korean grocery store and get the beans: kongnamulkong (soybeans for sprouting). Miss Kim78 socali joined 3/13 & has 40 commentsPosted June 4th, 2013 at 3:24 am | Log in to reply. I love kongnamul. It’s so versatile and healthy. Excellent lesson! You make it look so easy. Alastor78 Spain joined 10/12 & has 3 commentsPosted June 3rd, 2013 at 6:36 pm | Log in to reply. Such an interesting post! Thank you so much! I’m all ready to give it a go :) Just a question, how would you keep the sprouts? I cook just for one (me!) and I wonder what can I do with so many sprouts, and how long will they last fresh… Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 12,051 commentsPosted June 7th, 2013 at 11:24 am | Log in to reply. Put them in a plastic bag and store them in the fridge up to 1 week.