Blistered Chinese Long Beans with Garlic, Ginger, and Sesame
This is the recipe that finally made me love eating yardlong beans. Blistered Chinese long beans are easy, and they come together in about 15 minutes. These beans have so much flavor and just the right amount of savory crunch. It all cooks fast in one pan, so it doesn’t heat up the kitchen.
A quick note so the names don’t trip you up. Chinese long beans, yardlong beans, and asparagus beans are all the same type of bean. You might also see them sold as snake beans.
The ingredients are things I have on hand year-round, so it’s easy to make this recipe when the beans are coming in faster than I can use them. It’s even better when the ginger, garlic, and sesame come straight from my own garden.
If you want to grow your own beans, here’s how to grow asparagus beans in the low desert.
Key Takeaways: Blistered Chinese Long Beans
- This recipe for blistered Chinese long beans takes just 15 minutes to prepare, making it the perfect easy dish.
- Long beans require hot and fast cooking to retain their structure, unlike regular green beans.
- The key to flavor in this dish comes from blistering the beans and incorporating garlic, ginger, and a simple sauce.
- Use high smoke point oils and fresh ingredients for the best results when making this recipe.
- This dish is delicious served fresh or as leftovers, and long beans are easy to grow in warm climates.
The Recipe I Wish I Had
The first few summers I grew these, I had no idea what to do with them. I steamed them like regular green beans, and they were a letdown. Flat, a little mealy, nothing I wanted to make again. I ended up giving most of my harvest away, and some of it went to waste, which is a hard thing to admit.
Then I learned they need to be cooked differently. Cooked hot and fast, the way this recipe does it, they turn into a completely different bean. Now they’re one of our favorite summer sides. I still share my harvest with friends, but these days it’s because I want them to try the beans cooked like this and like them as much as we do.
Why This Recipe Works
A regular green bean is mostly water, but long beans have more structure, so the best way to cook them is over high heat.
That blister is the reason these taste so good. Those brown spots are flavor, and they give the sauce something to cling to. The sauce itself is simple: soy sauce for salt, a pinch of sugar to balance it, garlic and ginger, and toasted sesame oil and seeds at the end.
It works as a weeknight side next to rice, and it’s just as good the next day out of the fridge.
Recipe Ingredients
Before you get started, here are a few ingredient notes and tips to help this recipe turn out its best.
- Cooking oil: Use an oil with a high smoke point, such as avocado, peanut, or canola oil. This recipe cooks quickly over high heat, and lower-smoke-point oils can burn.
- Toasted sesame oil: Use it as a finishing oil rather than a cooking oil. Added at the end, it brings a rich, nutty flavor. Heated too long, it can become bitter.
- Garlic and ginger: Fresh garlic and ginger make a big difference in this recipe. If you grow your own, even better! Their bright flavor is one of the keys to a great stir-fry. Learn how I grow my garlic and ginger in these guides.
How to Make Blistered Chinese Long Beans (Step by Step)
- Step 1: Cut and dry the beans. Cut them into pieces about three inches long. Pat them dry before they go in the pan, because any water will spit in the hot oil.
- Step 2: Blister them. Heat two tablespoons of oil until hot, then add the beans. Let them sit without stirring for about a minute so they blister and brown in spots.
- Step 3: Add garlic and ginger. Turn the heat down, add the minced garlic and ginger, and toss just until fragrant.
- Step 4: Sauce and finish. Add the soy sauce, a pinch of sugar, and a drizzle of toasted sesame oil. Turn off the heat right after the sesame oil so it doesn’t burn.
- Step 5: Plate and serve. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.
Chinese Long Beans FAQs
Rinse them, trim the ends, and cut them into pieces about three inches long. Pat them dry before cooking. For this recipe, dry beans are what let them blister instead of steam in the pan.
About five minutes in a hot pan. Let them sit for a minute to blister, then a couple more minutes once you add the garlic, ginger, and sauce.
Garlic, ginger, soy, and toasted sesame are the classic match, which is what this recipe uses. They also take well to chili, black bean sauce, or a squeeze of lime at the end.
Cooked hot and fast. They’re denser than a green bean, so they’re at their best blistered or stir-fried over high heat, where they stay tender with a little bite. Steamed or boiled, they go bland and mealy.
You probably steamed or boiled them like regular green beans. Long beans are denser and need high, fast heat to taste their best. Blister them in a hot pan and they go from flat to flavorful.
Yardlong beans, asparagus beans, and snake beans are all names for the same long, tender pod, a relative of the cowpea.
Yes, but cook them a little less. Green beans hold more water, so they soften faster and won’t need as long in the pan.
Wrap them in a damp paper towel in an airtight container in the fridge. They’ll hold for several days until you have enough to cook.
Like these enough to grow your own? They produce right through a desert summer when most beans have given up. Here’s how to grow asparagus beans in the low desert, including when to plant them so they establish before the heat.
Want More Like This?
Another favorite summer harvest recipe is fried okra. It’s crispy, flavorful, and a great way to enjoy fresh-picked okra from the garden.
If your garden is overflowing with jalapeños, these bacon-wrapped jalapeño poppers are a delicious way to put them to use. Creamy, smoky, and just a little spicy, they’re always a hit.
Blistered Chinese Long Beans with Garlic, Ginger, and Sesame
Ingredients
Method
- Cut the beans into 3-inch pieces and pat them dry so they don’t spit in the oil.
- Heat the oil in a large pan over high heat until hot. Add the beans and let them sit without stirring for about 1 minute, until they blister and brown in spots.
- Reduce the heat. Add the garlic and ginger and toss just until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add the soy sauce, sugar, and toasted sesame oil. Toss to coat, then turn off the heat right away so the sesame oil doesn’t burn.
- Plate and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds. Serve hot.
Notes
- Dry beans matter. Any water left on them will pop and spit in the hot oil.
- Don’t skip the blister step. A minute of stillness in the hot pan is what gives them their toasty flavor and helps them hold the sauce.
- Toasted sesame oil is a finishing oil. Add it at the end and pull the pan off the heat, or it turns bitter.
- Don’t steam these like green beans. They go bland and mealy. High, fast heat is what makes them good.
- No yardlong beans? Regular green beans work, but cook them a little less since they hold more water.
I LOVE this recipe! So easy, so light, so yummy. Definitely going to be a staple in my house.
A family favorite that cooks up fast and easy.