The Good Cook

Cooking without onions is like cooking with heat.

Allegra McEvedy

We are planting our favorite beans again this year. Chinese longbeans, yardlong beans, liana, red noodle, they are beans that grow to almost 3 feet. I gave some to Harry Lowe, who wanted to snap them – I protested. After spending months growing them, I had no desire to see them snapped!

Allegra McEvedy is a British chef who loves to make cooking accessible for everyone. In her book,

The Good Cook, she writes:

“There’s no point in writing a book about how accessible and universal food is, and then stuffing if full of technical jargon, exotic ingredients and specialist equipment.”

Her books are chatty and easy to use. She truly loves food and wants to share that joy with her readers. Here is her recipe for long beans. There is and editing error in the recipe, instructing you to add the beans – twice. I think you can probably add them at either point, but I would add them after the garlic and chilli sauces.

Yard Beans with Sesame Seeds

225 g (8 oz) Chinese long beans
1 red chilli, finely chopped
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 garlic clove, peeled and firmly chopped
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
2 tablespoons black bean sauce
1 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce

Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and prepare a mixing bowl of iced water.
Blanch the beans for 3 minutes, then drop them into the iced water to stop them overcooking.
In a big frying pan or a wok heat the sesame oil until it is about to smoke.
Throw in the garlic and chilli, followed a minute later by the beans.
Stir-fry for a moment, then add the sesame seeds. As soon as you see them toasting – going a beautiful golden brown – add the black bean and sweet chilli sauces.
Throw in the beans and toss everything together so it all gets a good coating of sauce and serve. No fun cold.

This is not the most gratifying picture of the yardlong beans, but you get the idea