Soybean sprouts — kongnamul in Korean — are the sturdy shoots germinated in the dark from whole soybeans, harvested when the pale ivory stem is a few centimetres long and still crowned by a plump yellow bean head. Bigger, chewier and nuttier than the slender mung sprout most people call "bean sprouts," they are a foundational fresh vegetable of Korean cooking — blanched and dressed with sesame and garlic as the everyday side dish kongnamul-muchim, simmered into the hangover soup kongnamul-guk, piled onto bibimbap, and threaded through japchae — and are sold fresh year-round because they are grown from stored dry beans rather than harvested from a field.