One of the question during this week’s “Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader” was: Any number with a power of zero is equals to what? I answered aloud : ONE. I still remember! I’ve retained something after two decades in school. Wow, there’s my shining moment. Haha.

My memory serves me better when it comes to food and my childhood, than math, though. [Fortunate or unfortunate? You decide.] The dishes I grew up with are slowly coming back to me. I have “cooking videos” in my head: of my mom, my grandmothers, and our maids. [I really don't remember the men in our family cooking, although I was told that my great grandfather, or his brother,...or something like that, was a great cook.]

I requested this viand of sauteed bean sprouts [called "togue" (toh-ge') in the Philippines] a lot for dinner when I was young because it cooks quickly, which means I can eat sooner, finish my homework earlier, and have time to do more crafts. Did you notice the order? Eat, ‘work’, play. I knew my priorities alright.

I vividly recall going in and out of the kitchen before meals, monitoring the progress of the dishes to be served on the table. I tend to ‘hound’ things that I want until I get them — a very OCD trait that have been carried on to adulthood, but I’d prefer to call it ‘being focused’. There was a schedule in my head as to what ingredients to put next, what to do, how long, and so on. I didn’t know that this would help me with the recipes decades later.

There’s nothing complicated about this dish, which I love. You’d be surprised with all the good flavors considering that it has very few main ingredients, which are healthy, too — chicken, mushrooms, bean sprouts. I chose thigh meat to ‘flavor’ this dish because it’s tastier than chicken breasts. You can also add soy sauce for the flavor, but I skipped it because the sea salt and pepper were enough for me.

To prove to you just how much of a no-brainer this is to cook, here’s the visual step-by-step cooking guide:

If you’ve never had bean sprouts, you better give this a try! Here’s the recipe:

Crunchy Bean Sprouts with Chicken and Mushrooms
» download the PDF recipe

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
• 2 boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite size pieces
• 3 sliced white mushrooms, roughly about a generous cup
• 1 cup water
• 400 grams mung bean sprouts, washed and drained
• extra virgin olive oil
• sea salt
• fresh ground pepper

Preparation:

1. Heat oil in medium heat. Add onions and cook until the edges begin to brown.
2. Add the chicken. Put salt and pepper. Cook for about 6 minutes until cooked.
3. Stir in the mushrooms and saute for 3 minutes before pouring the water. Wait for it to boil then lower heat.
4. Add the mung bean sprouts and cook for 3-5 minutes, depending on their size. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Immediately turn off the heat once it starts to go limp, or it won’t be crunchy to eat.
6. Serve warm and enjoy on its own or with your favorite grains/seeds. I like mine with brown rice. Yummy.