This is not a traditional Vietnamese recipe, but rather my play with Vietnamese ingredients. Quite a successful play, I should say. These beans turn out really mind blowing: slightly sweet and tart, and spicy, and savory, and packed with umami.
I prefer slimmer and shorter green beans, also known as French green beans or haricot vert. You can find them at Trader Joe’s or Costco.
You will need:
- 24 oz/1.5 lb green beans or French green beans
- 4 large garlic cloves, minced
- 2 Tbsp peanut, grape seed or canola oil
- Juice of 3 small or 2 medium limes (about 4 Tbsp)
- 2 Tbsp sugar, more or less depending on acidity of limes
- 3 Tbsp fish sauce
- 2 Tbsp or more Sambal Oelek (spicy chili Vietnamese sauce, can be bought in pretty much all Asian stores and many regular supermarkets)
Trim the ends of the beans and blanch them in boiling water for about 1.5-2 minutes. They should become more tender, but retain slight crunch. Immediately transfer the beans to ice cold water to stop cooking, then drain and pat dry.
Put the beans into a mixing bowl and place garlic on top in a little heap. Heat oil until hot and pour over the garlic. It will sizzle as it gets slightly cooked. This will mellow down its flavor.
In a small bowl, combine together lime juice, sugar, fish sauce and Sambal Oelek and stir until sugar dissolves completely. Pour over the beans and give a good stir.
Leave the beans at room temperature for a couple of hours and give a stir about every 15-20 minutes to ensure even marinating. After that place into the refrigerator and let sit there for at least another 2 hours before serving.
The longer the beans spend time in the marinade, the more pickled they become. They will also change color in a day or two which is normal and doesn’t affect the flavor.
Store the beans in the fridge and consume within 10 days.
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