Long Horny Beans

I know, I know, that is a ridiculous title; but I think it’s rather catchy and suits my current silly mood. Besides, that is what these beans can be called if we take a literal play on the sounds of their Chinese moniker: “chang dou jiao” (here, the Chinese character “jiao” being the one for “horn” and not “legs”, in case you are interested). These beans are also variously known as “dau gok” (in Cantonese), “Thai long beans”, “yard beans” and “snake beans”. Although you may, if you wish, also call them “yak’s tails” (don’t ask me why -- do they look anything like yak’s tails? I for one have never seen a yak in person, much less its tail).

Whatever you choose to call them, I like these long beans a lot -- be they simply stir-fried with carrots and lots of garlic; sautéed with minced pork, preserved radish (chai poh) and spicy bean paste; or fried with eggs, sort of omelette-style.

By now, some of you will probably have realized, from several of my previous posts, that I like cooking with eggs -- a lot. Especially when it comes to cooking soups and vegetables; I’ve already talked about eggs with ketola, eggs with matrimony vine, eggs with bittergourd, eggs with mustard vegetable (gai choy), just to name but four.

And long beans with eggs is another one of those comfortingly homey, down-to-earth and so-incredibly-easy, ready-in-minutes dishes that I come back to time and again.

I like to pan-fry the eggs and beans into pancake-like discs rather than to have them messily scrambled; I prefer their texture this way, with a hint of crispiness around the edges, but feel free to scramble if that appeals to you more.

These photos show a version that has had some finely diced leftover char siew (Chinese sweet bbq pork) thrown in, simply because I wanted to use up the meat. I don’t usually add meat to the dish; preferring to keep it simple with just three main components: garlic, beans and eggs.

• Finely mince some garlic, and chop the long beans into fine dice.

• Lightly beat a few eggs (I normally provide for 1 egg per person) and season with light soy sauce, pepper, a pinch of salt and sugar. Set aside. (I tend to keep the flavors of this dish very light, with all the seasonings going into the eggs, and I add no further flavorings to the beans. But feel free to adjust this to suit personal preferences.)

• Into a well-heated wok, add a little bit of oil (I use very little oil). Drop in the minced garlic and give a quick twirl with the sauté spatula, just to release the aromas, before putting in the long beans.

• Sauté until the beans are nicely tender. For me, because I use very little oil, this can take a while (maybe about 15 minutes or so); the more oil you use, the quicker the beans will tenderize. Do not be tempted to cover the wok; this will only cause the beans to take on a rather unappetizing yellow tinge.

• Moving in a circular motion over the wok, slowly drizzle in the eggs, ensuring that all the beans are nicely covered with egg. Press any stray beans into the egg mixture if necessary. Leave the eggs to cook, without stirring, for about 2 minutes, or until the underside is done. Then, slowly flip the eggs over (as if flipping a pancake) and fry the other side until cooked.

• [If adding finely diced char siew to the dish, stir the meat into the beans just before adding the eggs. And if you like, additional seasonings can also be added to the beans before pouring in the eggs.]

Simple. Easy. Classic home-style Chinese cooking.

Copyright © 2004 Renee Kho. All Rights Reserved.
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