In the dream world, the bean sprouts are complete dry before you cook. This is so that you can get a little bit of char/golden brown on them. But in everyday life, I don't have the time or patience to dry every bean sprout. I put them in a colander and shake, shake, getting it as dry as I can but I don't go out of my way to make it super dry. The upside is that when you cook, you might not get the char, but it becomes more of a slightly saucy/wet dish. Which is also nice and tasty!