Stuffed Long Beans
Check out this easy and fun recipe using long beans. They are stuffed with a tofu paste and pan-fried then simmered in a simple sauce for a delicious side dish or meal by itself.
Servings: 3
Ingredients
- ½ lb long beans about 20 stalks
- 16 oz firm tofu* drained and pressed
- ¼ cup finely chopped carrots
- ¼ cup finely chopped King oyster mushrooms or any mushrooms
- a handful of chopped cilantro
- ½ teaspoon salt
- a few shakes of white pepper
- 2 cloves garlic finely minced
- 2 Thai chilis chopped
- oil for cooking
- toasted sesame oil
- cornstarch
- toasted sesame seeds
Sauce
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
- 2 teaspoons hot bean paste plus more to taste
- 1 cup water
Instructions
Prepare the sauce
- Whisk together all the sauce ingredients in a bowl and set it aside.
Prepare the long beans
- Prepare a bowl of ice water and set it aside, then bring a pot of water to boil, add a pinch of salt.
- Blanch long beans in hot water for 2 minutes. Using a pair of tongs, transfer them to the ice water bath to cool down.
- Drain out the water and wipe them dry with paper towels. Trim off the top and end.
Prepare the tofu stuffing
- Sauté finely chopped mushrooms until fragrant and season with salt and pepper. If the mushrooms appear to be wet, drain the liquid.
- Next, place pressed tofu in a food processor, pulse a few times until it turns pasty.
- Transfer tofu into a bowl and mix it with finely chopped carrots, mushrooms, cilantro, ½ teaspoon of salt, a few shakes of white pepper, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, and a drizzle of toasted sesame oil. Mix all ingredients until well combined.
How to stuff and cook the long bean
- To make the long beans knot, please check out the video.
- Place knotted long beans on a cleaned surface and generously dust both sides with cornstarch. Stuff the long beans knot with the tofu mixture.
- In a heated non-stick skillet, add about a tablespoon of oil.
- Pan-fry long beans over low heat until golden brown on both sides. Then, push the cooked long beans to the side of the pan.
- Using the same skillet, sauté garlic until fragrant, adding more oil if needed. Add in sauce and chile.
- Place a lid over & let simmer for 2-3 mins or until the stuffing is fully cooked through. (Thick stuffing takes longer time to cook).
- Meanwhile, prepare a thin slurry by mixing 2 teaspoons of cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of water.
- While the long beans are simmering, swirl in the cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce. You may not need to thicken it if you have enough cornstarch from dusting the long beans earlier.
- Turn off the heat and garnish with toasted sesame seeds before serving.
Notes
- *If you have leftover tofu paste, it's great to pan-fry them to make into a patty.