Wednesday 10 March 2021

Sprouting Mung Beans (Taugeh) & Cooking Fish Head and Prawn Curry

We woke up late on this particular morning. I had an interrupted sleep because I woke up twice in the middle of the night to go to the washroom. It was probably because I drank too much water before I went to bed. It was a Sunday morning, and looking at the clock, we still have time to walk, returned to water my plants and still have time to get ready for online church.

Morning sky at 7:15am
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Our friend ran out of bean sprout for her fried noodle business. She needed hubby to help get some bean sprout for her while waiting for the supplier to deliver the bean sprout. I was curious and I volunteered to accompany hubby because I was interested to see the place and how they sprout the beans.
I was free to snap photos. The above big plastic containers are used to sprout the mung beans. Our city, Ipoh is famous for the short, fat and juicy bean sprouts because of the underground water from the limestone hills in this region. The premium grade bean sprouts come from the Buntong Village, which is less than 5 minutes drive away and less than 15 minutes walking distance from our house.
It takes about 5 days of regular watering of the beans (about 4 times a day) and by the 6 days they are ready for sale. The underground water which is rich in nutrients is used to water the bean sprouts producing premium grade crispy, healthy and fresh bean sprouts.
 The above bean sprouts is ready to be harvested after this final watering. 
The sprouts on the top are of low grade because they are long and skinny and usually used as animal feed. The next layer will be sold to noodle shops and the premium grade from the middle layer will be sold to the shops selling poached chicken and blanched bean sprouts also known as the popular "Ipoh nga choy kai".
We waited for the seller to pack a plastic bag of bean sprouts for us to send to our friend. They will deliver the rest when they go on their delivery round. Hubby and I are fans of bean sprouts and we love blanched bean sprouts or bean sprouts stir fried with salted fish.
Oleander pink flowers by the roadside.
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Simple home cooked dinner.
I cooked curry using ready made curry paste, half a fish head, prawns (given by neighbour), pineapple, home grown long beans and long okra. Shared some of the curry with our friend and neighbour.
I steamed rice and warmed up the leftover fried "suk yue" fish. It was a delicious and satisfying dinner.


Two can accomplish more than twice as much as one,
for the results can be much better.
If one falls, the other pulls him up;
but if a man falls when he is alone, he's in trouble.
Also, on a cold night, two under the same blanket gain warmth
for each other, but how can one be warm alone?
(Ecclesiates 4:9-11, The Living Bible-TLB)

58 comments:

  1. I love bean sprouts and use them a lot in stir fry. The oleander flowers are very pretty.
    https://allatseawithme.blogspot.com/2021/03/wordless-wednesday-monte-carlo.html

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  2. The sprouts are looking really plump. Perfect!

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  3. Life is made every day, do not wait for Friday or the holiday to be happy. Every day of life is worth living well, because every day can be special.

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  4. The bean sprouts and food look delicious Nancy. Happy rest of the week to you.

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  5. So interesting to see the bean sprouts being ready for packaging. I love bean sprouts too. Your curry looks delicious!

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  6. ...your fish dish looks wonderful.

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  7. Mung bean sprouts is my favorite and its interesting to see it in huge containers and its sprouts like buds of jasmine! Loved your capture on Oleander

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  8. This was very interesting...I had never really thought about how bean sprouts are grown.

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    1. I have tried sprouting mung beans in school and at home but haven't seen how it was done commercially, so this was my first time.

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  9. Wow, I learned something today, thanks to you. I had never even thought how they would sprout beans.

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  10. Thanks for sharing the photos of the beansprouts. Luckily they are so close to you for you to help your friend. You didn't mention about the bottom layer, what grade are the bottom layer of beansprouts?

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    1. If I am not mistaken, the bottom layers will have shorter bean sprouts. Most probably that will be sold in the wet markets to the locals. I don't mind buying those for home use.

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  11. another delicious day complete with flowers!

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  12. So that's how they do sprouts. They sure are good.

    I love your home-cooked meals. You had me at shrimp.

    Thank you for joining the Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop.

    Have a fabulous Wordless Wednesday, Nancy. Big hug. ♥

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Sandee. Sending a big hug to you! Have a great day.

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  13. What a wonderful trip to see Bean Sprouts growing and ready for sale. Thanks

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  14. Que interesante los brotes de soja. Besos.

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  15. Great learning about the sprouting operation! Back in the 60s we sprouted mung beans, radish, and alfalfa ourselves on a totally smaller scale (jjust for our family, in jars in a dark cupboard). It was fun ... and we still like bean sprouts for stir fry, , but we buy them.

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    1. I too buy bean sprouts, too lazy to sprout them.

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  16. Nancy,I showed this post to my hubby and he wondered if there is anything in the barrels (a planting medium?) besides the seeds. Ha! I wish we could travel there and see for ourselves ))!

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    1. The beans are first soaked. There is no other medium inside the barrels. Just the beans and daily 4 times watering until the 6th day.

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  17. I love seeing how they grow bean sprouts. Very interesting. Thanks for taking the pictures. I LOVE Oleander They grew alongside the office building I worked in in Vancouver. It is too cold for them here. My cats eat quite a bit of grass they love it. And your supper looks amazing! Have a marvellously happy day!

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  18. Oh so nice the sunset~ I prefer to buy the bean sprouts in the supermarket

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  19. Bean sprouts look great! Homemade meals look delicious. Especially i like fish-dish very much.

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  20. That's fascinating about the bean sprouts, i enjoy them in salads and vegetable stir fry.

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  21. Interesting sharing on the bean sprouts. I'd thought a batch would be standard rather than have different grades.

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    1. Thank you, Stacy. The best grade goes to the nga choy kai stalls or shops.

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    2. Now I feel it's worth visiting these shops haha. Otherwise would think nothing so special about nga choy there mah.

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    3. Ipoh welcomes you to enjoy our nga choy when the state borders are opened.

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  22. I don't mind bean sprouts but I have friend who does not like bean sprouts.

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    Replies
    1. I love bean sprouts and I too have friends who don't like bean sprouts.

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  23. I never thought much about how they were grown, so thanks for the photos and information!

    Your link is a welcome addition to My Corner of the World' this week!

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  24. I love to see all those fresh bean sprouts! We eat them a lot, fresh or cooked. I can eat them just like that hehe

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    Replies
    1. I am not used to eating the sprouts raw but at least they must be slightly blanched.

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  25. I Love to see your post and are really good.
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    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Ahmed. Yes, I am interested. Can you provide your email address or you can email me at nancychan130@gmail.com.

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