It’s Saturday afternoon, after church service about peace, and I’m so excited. I’ve been trying to grow wing beans for a long time, and in all previous attempts, although the beans grew into stalks, the plants refused to produce fruit. But today, there are six beans; I picked all of them. Then, there are onions, shallots, and limes from the garden.
With these six beans, I decide to make wing bean salad (ยำถั่วพู)—something I’ve eaten in Thailand years ago and have craved ever since. The beans aren’t available in grocery stores, and restaurants here don’t serve it.
Steps:
- Brown the shredded coconut in a dry pan over low heat.
- Slice the shallots and onions, then fry them in some oil until brown and crispy.
- Stir fry shiitake mushrooms in the same oil.
- Blanch and slice the wing beans.
- Combine lime juice, palm sugar, tamarind juice, homemade vegetarian roasted chili paste (น้ำพริกเผา), and crushed peanuts to make the sauce.
- Boil coconut milk; then, add in the sauce. Throw in the coconut.
- Toss in the beans.
- Quarter hard-boiled eggs and line on a plate.
- Arrange salad over the eggs, and garnish with crisped onions and dried chili.
