Yardlong bean

The yardlong bean — also called the long bean, snake bean, Chinese long bean or asparagus bean — is a subspecies of the cowpea (Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis) grown for its extraordinary slender, flexible pods, which trail to 30-90 cm long and are eaten whole as a fresh vegetable rather than shelled. Pale to deep green (and in some types a dusky purple), the immature pod is denser, chewier and beanier than a common green bean, with a faint sweet grassiness and a satisfying snap that holds up to hard heat. It is a staple of Southeast and East Asian and South Indian cooking, where it is cut into short lengths and stir-fried, braised, deep-fried or curried — the bean that stands up to a smoking wok.