Soy sprouts

For a Korean-style side dish, boil them in salted water for about 5 minutes, keeping the pan covered throughout; lifting the lid midway can leave a strong raw-bean smell. Drain well, then season with sesame oil, garlic and spring onion.

It is safer to cook them thoroughly: sprouts can carry bacteria that washing alone may not remove. Add them to soup or stir-fry and cook until steaming hot all the way through.

Keep them refrigerated in a clean, covered container and use them within a few days. Discard any that smell sour, feel slimy or have discoloured; don’t leave cooked sprouts at room temperature for long.

They are used in Korean kongnamul-muchim, a seasoned sprout side dish, and kongnamul-guk, a clear soup often flavoured with garlic and spring onion. You can also add cooked sprouts to bibimbap or a quick stir-fry.

Yes, especially in stir-fries and noodle dishes, but mung bean sprouts are usually thinner and more delicate, so add them near the end of cooking. Soy sprouts have larger beans and a heartier bite.

Soy sprouts have more protein: 6.2 g per 100 g, compared with 3 g in mung bean sprouts. Mung bean sprouts contain 13 mg of vitamin C per 100 g.

Rinse them under cool running water and pick out any damaged sprouts or loose seed coats. Trim the stringy roots if you prefer a neater texture, though they are edible.