Grow Snake Beans (Yard Long Beans) for a tasty fried bean dish!



If there was ever a bean that I could associate with Asia, it would have to be the Snake Bean.  It reminds of walking through markets in Malaysia where bundles of these incredibly long beans, each secured by a rubber band, are piled up onto market stall stands.  These beans are thought to have originated from South China and are also known as Yard Long beans, Chinese Long Beans or Asparagus Beans.

My parents grow these delightfully long beans in their backyard in Sydney, Australia and mid February we had our first harvest, which I turned into a tasty dish of "Deep fried snake beans with garlic".

Chinese style Fried Snake Beans with Garlic Recipe

 
My favourite way to cook green beans is to fry them in oil until their outer skin blisters and they turn impossibly sweet.  Snake beans are no exception and can be fried (almost deep fried) in batches.  Add some slivers of garlic and these beans really come alive.

Keep the beans long as they look lovely "snaked" around a plate, but trim them to a size manageable during the cooking process.