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Friday, February 06, 2009

BeAn SpRoUTs' AtTacK

Bean sprouts are a great, inexpensive way of obtaining a concentration of vitamins, minerals and enzymes. They contain all of the nutrients found in the various fruits and vegetables. Eating sprouts is a safe way of getting the nutritional advantage of both fruits and vegetables without contamination and harmful insecticides. All in all, bean sprouts not just have a lovely fresh flavor but they are extremely good for your health too.

Beans contains significant amount of proteins, vitamin C and number of essential vitamin B which are needed by your body for proper functioning of various body system.

People who go on for dieting, beans sprouts serve their best purpose. That's because Sprouted beans increase the digestive enzymes which facilitates digestion process of your body. Also, the bean sprouts forms the ideal food for calorie conscious people as beans are very low in calories and can be eaten without any dressing over it. You can even treat bean sprouts as a snack item that can be eaten at any time of day. But Make sure you use the sprouts soon after buying. Don’t keep them for long hours, they might taste sour. Go for firm sprouts which are green and yellow in color not the limp ones and avoid the ones that are turning brown.

The bean sprouts that are easily available for us here in Indonesia to relish are generally small sprouted moong beans. When my parents were in Thailand, they ate a much bigger sprouts. As for chinese cuisine, bean sprouts usually cook in stir-fry with garlic and salty soy sauce. But actually you can add anything to make the food taste better and more healthy, because even though bean sprouts exhibit great nutritional benefits, they are not a complete food.

This time, combining Chinese and Indonesian cuisine, I mix the bean sprouts with shrimp, tofu and tomato. Research shows and dieticians concur that the high percentage of "good fats" in shrimp reduces the impact of cholesterol. So shrimp can be enjoyed as part of a balanced diet. As for tofu, it is a great add of protein. There are a whole bunch of the benefits of soy beans that could easily fill a large book, so I will review about tofu and especially the world of soy bean next time.

About the tofu though. In Indonesia, we can get the original tofu from Japan that has a very soft texture in the market. But usually, they could be quite expensive. So here we have our own kind of tofu made from soy milk and vinegar or calcium sulphate. The texture is tougher than Japanese tofu and cheaper to buy.

Shrimpy Bean-Sprouts with Tofu

Ingredients:
250gr of bean sprouts
50gr of small shrimp
2 large blocks of tofu
2 cloves of garlic
4 cloves of red onion
1/2 of tomato
2 leeks
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of salty soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon of ground pepper

Preparations :
1. Cut the tofu into small thin blocks. You can divide the tofu into 2 parts and then make thin slices. Deep fry the tofu until they turn yellow and the skin are quite hard.
2. Shred the garlics and the red-onions. Make thin slices of the tomato. Cut the leeks about 2 cm long each. Wash the small shrimp. You should buy those in the market that are already peeled and the head & tail cut. To wash the bean sprouts, you can soak them in cold water, change the water twice.

To cook them is so simple. Just like usual stir-fry ala chinese cuisine, firstly you fry the garlic and red onion in cooking oil until the red onions turn pink. Then add the shrimps until they turn pink aswell. Add the salty soy sauce right after you add the shrimp. And then add the tofu together with the bean sprouts and tomato. Give spices : salt, sugar, and ground pepper. Fry until the bean sprouts are wither up. And lastly add the leeks, fry just for a moment, and the cooking is done.

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