Cooking with unique ingredients for the first time is always an exciting and scary experience.
It’s exciting because you will get to taste something different and scary because anything can go wrong. But when it is your first time trying out a recipe, don’t be so hard on yourself. It is okay to make a mistake.
If you follow the recipe, you will be able to achieve the original taste. But what do you do if a certain ingredient from the recipe is not available in your country or you are allergic to it? The answer is simple, you find a substitute.
Mung Bean sprouts have a very unique nutty flavor along with crunchy texture.
However, if there is a time when you are unable to find mung bean sprouts in the market or in general want to try something else for a change, then you can substitute them with any of the following ingredients (that we will talk about in a while) to match your recipe.
Although a recipe may not include the names of substitutes, you can always look for them on the internet. Just because you can’t find an ingredient doesn’t mean you won’t be able to try out a dish.
Nothing should keep you from trying out a new dish and enjoying different food items. This is why we have compiled a list of mung bean sprout substitutes for you to use in your recipe.
What Are Mung Beans?
Mung beans belong to the legume family and they are also called Green Gram, Golden Gram, or chop suey bean.
The sprouts of mung beans are slightly germinated seeds which add crunchiness and nutty flavor to every dish they are added to. This is why mung bean sprouts are very suitable for adding in stir-fry dishes and soups.
They are very commonly found in stir fry dishes of Chinese and Korean cuisine, Pho of Asian cuisine, Pad Thai of Thailand, ramen of Japan, and Kwati of Nepal. They are also used for making curry in different Indian states.
A large population uses Mung Bean Sprouts as a replacement for meat because of its high protein content.
Moreover, it is also very low in calories along with being rich in minerals and vitamins which makes it very healthy to consume.
However, sometimes it gets really hard to find Mung Bean sprouts. Because of their popularity and usefulness, they also sell pretty quickly.
So, if you miss going to the market one day, you may not get mung bean sprouts for a recipe next day.
5 Substitute of Mung Bean Sprouts
Many Asian traditional dishes would be incomplete without mung bean sprouts. But even in Asian households, people sometimes use substitutes when they can’t get their hands on mung bean sprouts.
The substitutes allow people to cook the dish they wanted to make without sacrificing on the taste. Here is a list of substitutes you can use if you can’t find mung bean sprouts anywhere:
- Grow Sprouts At Your Home
There’s nothing better than growing fruits and vegetables at home. You can be sure of their quality. You can also get fresh vegetables whenever needed. But growing vegetables at home is not that simple.
You should know about the basics of gardening. You should also know what kind of care different seeds require. Not all vegetables and fruits need the same kind of care and water.
However, once you learn these things, you will begin to get fresh fruits and vegetables at home.
Although mung bean sprouts are a bit different than vegetables, you can still grow them at home. Before you move to the alternative of Mung Bean sprouts, you should try the better option of growing the sprouts yourself.
If the market runs out of fresh mung bean sprouts you can grow them yourself with the help of a few steps.
- Get a pouch of fresh mung beans and wash the seeds before soaking them in cold water.
- Decide how many sprouts of mung beans you require by keeping in mind that one cup of mung beans can make up to 2 cups of its sprouts.
- After 8 to 12 hours, drain water and rinse beans thoroughly.
- Now set the beans aside and keep washing them at least two times a day until the required size of sprout is not achieved.
The one problem with this method is that you will need mung beans to grow sprouts. If you can’t find mung beans anywhere, you won’t be able to grow sprouts at home.
But if that’s the case, you can try a substitute of mung bean sprouts.
- Purchase Canned Sprouts
If you are unable to grow your beans then you can use canned mung bean sprouts that are easily found in the grocery stores.
However, the taste of canned mung bean sprouts is not the same as the fresh ones. Make sure that you wash your canned mung bean sprouts before you use them.
Nothing can come close to the fresh taste of a vegetable. But some vegetables are only available during a certain season.
As a result, people have to turn to canned options. If you don’t like the taste of canned vegetables, then you can try other substitutes from this article.
- Enoki
Enoki is a kind of mushroom found in Japan that is edible and used widely in different recipes. It can be the perfect substitute for Mung Bean Sprouts because it has a very identical shape, size, and color.
The shape is similar because the mushroom head acts like shoots of the bean while the stem of the mushroom seems exactly like the tail of the sprout.
You can replace mung bean sprouts from any sandwich or salad recipe with enoki mushrooms without thinking twice because it has exact crispiness along with a mild flavor.
However, if you are looking for a recipe that requires cooking of mung bean sprouts then enoki cannot be a good substitute because it does not withstand heat.
Enoki has a good taste on its own. But it cannot be cooked. For recipes that require you to do cooking after mixing mung bean sprouts with other ingredients, you should turn to other options.
- Soybean Sprouts
Soybeans are comparatively easier to find as compared to mung bean seeds and to replace your mung bean sprouts you can use soya bean sprouts as well. They have almost the same structure along with exact crunchiness.
Both soyabean sprouts and mung bean sprouts belong to legume families. Soybean sprouts are best for using in stir fry dishes, however, they have a stronger taste than mung bean sprouts.
If you are planning to germinate your soybean sprouts then make sure that you are not growing them too long with a larger tail. Unlike mung bean sprouts, soya bean sprouts get bitter if the tail gets too long.
The taste of soyabean sprouts may not work well with all kinds of dishes. You can check the recipe and decide for yourself if soyabean sprouts are the right choice for it or not.
- Bamboo Shoots
Bamboo shoots can act as a great replacement for mung bean sprouts because of the similar taste and crunchiness.
Bamboo comes from the grass family and is most commonly found in Southeast Asian countries. It also has a similar color to mung bean sprouts which makes it quite a suitable substitute for slicing it.
The good thing about bamboo shoots is that they work well with Asian cuisine. Since mung bean sprouts are also often used in Asian dishes, they can be replaced with bamboo shoots.
If you want the authentic Asian taste, you should pick bamboo shoots as a substitute of mung bean sprouts. They not only have the right taste but also mix well with ingredients.
You can get bamboo shoots from an Asian grocery store. They are easily available because they are used in a number of dishes.
The Bottom Line:
Everyone wants to stick to a recipe so they can get the authentic taste of a dish. But sometimes, it is just not possible to get everything for a recipe.
If an ingredient is unavailable, you should find its substitute instead of giving up on cooking the dish altogether. Once you get the hang of using substitutes in your dishes, people won’t be able to tell the difference.
Mung bean sprouts are needed for making different types of Asian dishes. But that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy those Asian dishes if you don’t have mung bean sprouts.
We have listed the best alternatives in this article so you can carry on with your cooking. Keep the taste of each substitute in mind so you can use them for recipes accordingly.
Hopefully, this blog helped you in finding out the best possible substitutes for mung bean sprouts. With these substitutes, you can cook different types of Asian cuisine and get that authentic taste that you wanted to achieve.