Cookaholics Bulletin Board

Our store has been carrying chinese long beans. I would like to purchase some and wonder if anyone has made them before. They are about 14-16 inches long and come in a bundle. Sort of curly at one end. Any thoughts, recipe's or techniques?

Laurie

Laurie,

Lots! Long beans are a staple of Chinese and Southeast Asian cuisine; you find them in all kinds of recipes.

For example, my asparagus/black bean recipe would be excellent with long beans instead of asparagus: http://www.fuzzychef.org/archives/Black ... -2011.html

Dry-fried long beans are a standard of Szechuan and Thai food. Some recipes:
http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/20 ... lustrated/
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011 ... ecipe.html
http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/20 ... ong-beans/

Thai curries often use long beans as one of the vegetables in the curry. Examples:
http://thai-laos-food.blogspot.com/2006 ... s-and.html
http://thaicookinghouse.com/recipes.php ... prik_khing

Note that I haven't tried any of the third-party recipes above. I just googled them, so caveat coquus.

Speaking of which:
http://www.google.com/search?q=long+beans&tbs=rcp:1

When buying long beans, prefer those which are lighter green in color and very flexible. These are younger beans and can be eaten and cooked a variety of ways, even raw. Darker, stiffer beans, like old string beans, are only suitable for recipes which cook them for a long time (like the dry-frying above).

Thanks Fuzzy, I will go thru all your links and see what looks good. THese are loose with only a paper band around them. They are all medium green with curling ends. Quite heavy for their size. I almost bought some yesterday, but decided to check here first. I will pick some up next time I go to the market. Will let you know what I think.

Laurie