Crispy Fried Broad Beans
香酥蚕豆
English: Crispy Fried Broad Beans
Chinese: 香酥蚕豆
Pinyin: xiang su candou
Literal: Fragrant crispy broad beans
There are aisles and aisles of snacks in Chinese supermarkets, most of which are completely novel and strange to Western eyes - brittle meat that breaks like glass, pickled seaweed, dried squid tentacles, fish jerky and all kinds of deep-fried beans and peas. I came across these crispy broad beans next to the peanuts once in my local convenience store. Sometimes they are coated in a spiced, sugary, salty batter, or other times, just a spice mix. They are a bit of an acquired texture - somewhere between a salted peanut and popcorn - crunchy, sometimes too crunchy, with a flaky kernel cover that annoyingly gets stuck in your teeth.
Beans, seeds and pulses have always featured heavily in Chinese cuisine. A necessary source of protein and nutrients when meat was scarce (which was often), beans found their way into porridges, stews and stir-fries, but also pastries, sweet treats and juices. Treating beans as a sweet food must sound insane to a Western palette, indeed, I remember being served a sweet mung bean juice once as a thrust-quenching drink one summer’s day. But it’s not that crazy - think of how we often describe garden peas and spring beans as naturally sweet. One step further is adding sugar and boiling red beans down to a paste for mooncakes.
Serves 4 as a snack
Ingredients
500g fresh broad beans (de-podded)
1 spring onion
3 slices of ginger
2 star anise
1 stick of cinnamon
3 bay leaves
1 spoon light soy sauce
Oil for frying
For the seasoning
2 teaspoon five spice
½ teaspoon chilli powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon sugar
Method
If buying whole beans, pop the beans out of their pods, then rinse the beans and soak overnight.
The next day, drain the beans and pour into a large saucepan. Fill with water and then add the spring onion, ginger, star anise, cinnamon, bay leaves and soy sauce. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer for 15-20 minutes.
Once cooked, drain and let cool. With a pairing knife, make a small cut, no more than 1-2mm deep, across the middle of the bean, where the two halves of the bean meet (in older beans there will be a black thread here). If you skip this part, I found the beans sometimes explode in the oil.
Lay the beans out in a few large colanders, leaving to dry completely, or pat dry.
Meanwhile, mix all the powders for the seasoning in a small bowl and set aside.
Heat a wok with about 250ml of oil, and heat on a low heat. Test the oil by dropping in one bean, it should sizzle calmly. If it’s fizzing about, it’s too hot. When ready, add in the beans. You may need to cook them in batches to avoid overcrowding the pan. Cook for about 6-8 minutes, or until nicely browned.
Add the beans to a large bowl and sprinkle with the seasoning and toss when still hot and serve. You can eat these warm, or keep them in an airtight container for 3-4 days. If they lose their crispiness, pop them into the oven for ten minutes.
