Excuse the pun, but I actually didn’t think I would get to try these. When I was looking up different stuff to try I kept seeing them pop up but never came across them in the store. BOOM LIKE MAGIC THEY WERE THERE.
They just look magical to me, like it should be in some fantasy show. I adore trying things that have a different look to them altogether, and while you may be thinking that they just look like a long green bean, well, yes they do. They do look like a long green bean.
I just thought I would pick these up and boil them in water like other green beans but was warned (by the warm welcoming internet) that it would waterlog the beans. I wasn’t really sure what waterlogged would mean truthfully, but I looked it up and apparently they would get full of water or fat so I guess they would turn mushy which would be lame.
Anyway, all the recipes suggested doing a stir fry with them and that they remain dry. I was super curious if these would be good in a tempura situation but I am trying so hard to just not fry everything I try as delicious as that would be.
Anyway, down to the cooking. I got the recipe from Food&Wine.com and you can see it here. I’m sure there is something you can make where you keep the whole bean intact, but I don’t really have the space to tackle that so I chopped them up so they don’t look as impressive. That is the main bummer for me this being a food blog with photos and all but I’m sure y’all don’t mind.
For some reason I was surprised to actually see a little bean in there. I always associate green beans with the pod instead of the seed (I’m just assuming the bean is the seed) and I never really think of the fact that I’m eating the beans. Guess everyone needs to get back in touch with the food they eat, even if it is in a small way such as noticing a little bean that has always been present.
Anyway, I just had these in the skillet with some onion, garlic and red pepper and they came out with a pretty nice texture. I remember eating green beans like this from a Chinese buffet, and I always remembered them being a little more tough than the green beans my mom would make. I think I have finally stumbled onto those beans and while they didn’t taste like Mandarin House made them, they were still pretty good.
Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t anything to write home about. I really want to dip them in tempura batter and fry them, but I think that will be the only time I’ll purchase them again. Or if I need some unique looking veggies for the cover of my medieval farmer fantasy novel, I’ll let you figure out which one is more likely.
With that, thank you to our 46th veggie, long beans, for letting me be fascinated by something I shouldn’t have had much surprise over, but I did.
Try 52 