Food Lust People Love: Long Beans with Coconut

Fresh long beans with coconut milk are rich and spicy, though the coconut milk helps mellow the potency of the red chili peppers.

This week my Sunday Supper group is sharing their favorite regional recipes, the ones that define home for them, whether from their place of origin or an adopted city or state that became home. I must confess that I struggled with this one. I’ve called so many cities home, growing to love each and every one from the little Podunk oilfield town of Balikpapan, Indonesia to Paris, the City of Love. And, of course, that doesn’t even take into account my birthplace New Iberia, Louisiana or Houston, Texas which I list as my hometown on Facebook. How to choose just one recipe?

One of the first things I do when we move to a new place is to wander up and down every aisle of the nearest local grocery store or food market. My goal is not necessarily to make an immediate purchase but to see what they have that we love or to discover new unfamiliar ingredients. Take these long beans, for instance. They are common in Asia, often easier to find than the normal green beans I grew up with. And since the long beans are locally grown, most of the time they are cheaper too. They look a bit alien, all curled up in bunches tied with a bit of string or a rubber band to keep them tidy. The little beans inside are larger than our US green beans and have a tinge of purple around the edges.

While I have made my grandmother’s green beans with baby new potatoes and Clara’s Garlicky Green Beans and Carrots with them, somehow they seem to go better with a more Asian style recipe. This one with spicy coconut originates in either Indonesia or Malaysia. They both claim it, but since I’ve called both places home, I’m not going to name one and get the other riled up.

Ingredients
1 lb or 450g long beans
1 small onion
2 garlic cloves
1-2 red chili peppers
1 tablespoon canola or other light oil
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 cup or 60 ml thick coconut milk (Scoop out the stuff that floats to the top of the can.)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Method
Cut the tips off one end of your long beans and then cut them at an angle into more manageable pieces, discarding the tips at the other end as well.

Cut your peeled onion in half and slice it thinly. Slice the garlic and finely chop the peppers.

Bring a large pot of water to the boil and tip in the long beans.

Boil for 2-3 minutes then drain them in a colander. Run cool water over them to stop the cooking process.

In a pan large enough to stir the green beans later, sauté the onions, chili peppers and garlic in the oil until they soften. Add in the ground spices and sauté for a few minutes more.

Pour in the thick coconut milk and stir well to combine.

Add in the blanched long beans and stir again to coat the beans with the now spicy coconut milk.

Sprinkle on salt to taste and a few good grinds of fresh black pepper and stir again.

You can cook the beans longer if you like them softer. We prefer them pretty crunchy so I cook them just a couple of minutes in the coconut milk so it evaporates a bit and clings to them.

This dish can be served warm or cold so it's perfect for bringing along to your next potluck or barbecue as well.

Enjoy!

What meal or dish means home to you? Perhaps you’ll find it in this list of favorite regional recipes from the rest of the Sunday Supper tastemakers. Many thanks to Sue from Palatable Pastime for hosting this great event!

Appetizers