Yum Tua Pu (Wing Bean Salad)

I made this recipe a few weeks ago now and wings beans, for me were a totally new ingredient. I went away and did a bit of research on the most popular ways to cook them and came out with this- Yam Tua Puu. It’s a side dish on it’s own but could definitely be a main dish for one over rice. It’s also quite hard to describe- the beans have a satisfying crunch to them and the sauce is creamy, sweet, salty, vinegar (rather than lime) sour. It’s a really moreish dish- if you can get hold of wing beans from an Asian supermarket, please give it a go.

For a small side dish use:

• 1 packet of wing beans, trim off the ends and cut them into inch long pieces. Use green beans otherwise

 

Wing beans (pic courtesy of ‘the food canon’)

• ½ an onion, finely sliced


• 3 cloves of garlic


• 3 red chillies


• 200ml coconut milk (if using a tin freeze other half)


• a small handful of peanuts (crushed)


• a big splash of light soy sauce


• a big pinch of sugar


• a big splash of white wine vinegar


• juice of half a lime


• vegetable oil for frying

Start off by heating plenty of oil in a wok or frying pan and deep fry the onion slices until their dark brown (but not burnt!) and crispy. Drain them on kitchen paper. Next pre cook the wing beans for just 2 minutes in boiling water, then drain them and set aside.In a pestle and mortar, crush the garlic cloves and chillies into a rough paste.

Back to the wok/frying pan, heat the remaining oil and very briefly, fry the garlic/ chilli paste, a few seconds later add all the sauce ingredients- coconut milk, vinegar, soy sauce, sugar and let this cook down for three or four minutes before adding the beans back in, along with the lime juice and cook for just a couple more minutes. Have a taste to check on the seasoning before pouring it out into a dish. Sprinkle over the crushed peanuts and crispy onions.