It look me a long time to fall in love with long beans. Long beans are also known as yardlong beans or asparagus beans, and they are not quite like their well-known cousin, the green bean, for many reasons. First of all, they are very long. I try to harvest mine around 18 inches in length, when they are most tender, but they can grow up to 3 feet long! Secondly, they cook up a little differently. Let me explain why this recipe, long bean and shrimp stir fry, is the best way to use long beans.
The outer skin on a long bean gets kind-of leathery when you cook it and can burn easily instead of developing a delicious char. (I found I do not like grilled long beans for this reason.) To keep the skins soft, you want to cook them with some kind of sauce to keep them moist. Unfortunately, simply blanching them in water didn’t lend the best texture/flavor combo either.
For this recipe, I start by microwaving the long beans in a bowl with water. This is a fast and easy way to steam them and get the cooking process started. The second step is to saute them in a skillet with a delicious sauce. The leathery skins absorb the sauce and become flavorful while staying soft.
This recipe is no ordinary stir fry sauce either. It uses broth to add volume to the sauce, keeping the long beans extra moist while cooking. The sauce is slightly sweet and very savory without any punchiness thanks to the small amount of vinegar used. It tastes authentic and is a fun way to switch up your stir fry routine.
Simple swaps for the Long Bean and Shrimp Stir Fry recipe:
- Make it plant based: Use a 16 oz block of tofu in place of the shrimp, and vegetable broth. Cook the tofu until golden brown in a TBS of avocado oil first, then proceed with the recipe stirring the tofu back into the stir fry with the garlic and ginger.
- Use all-natural sweetener: Swap the brown sugar with honey or maple syrup.
- Carrot is used to add color and texture. Swap the carrot for another veg, like red bell pepper.
- Black pepper is a fantastic way to add complexity and subtle heat to the stir fry. You could use something spicier, like red pepper flakes or Asian hot sauce.
- To make broth or stock in a pinch, I combine water and vegetable broth base. This is especially handy when you only need a small amount, like the 1/4 cup in this recipe.
- 2 TBS reduced sodium tamari or soy sauce
- 1 TBS each: dry sherry wine and brown sugar
- ½ TBS each: rice vinegar and sesame oil
- ¾ tsp cornstarch
- ¼ tsp fine ground black pepper
- ¼ cup shrimp or vegetable stock
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 inch ginger, minced
- 2 TBS avocado oil, or another neutral flavored oil, divided
- 3 cups long beans, trimmed and cut into 1 ½ inch pieces, about ½ lb
- 1 medium carrot, sliced
- 21 shrimp, peeled (26-30 count), about ¾ lb
- Cooked Rice, for serving
- In a liquid measuring cup combine soy sauce or tamari, dry sherry, brown sugar, rice vinegar, sesame oil, cornstarch, black pepper and shrimp stock. Whisk to combine.
- In a small prep bowl, combine garlic, ginger, and 1 TBS avocado oil. Set aside.
- Add ¼ cup water and long beans to a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 1-2 minutes (depending on the strength of you microwave). Drain well.
- Heat remaining 1 TBS avocado oil in a skillet. Add long beans and stir fry until starting to get brown spots.
- Meanwhile, microwave carrots until tender, about 30 seconds.
- Add the garlic mixture, tender carrots, and shrimp to the skillet, tossing to combine. Cook 1 minute. Flip shrimp and mix in the sauce. Cook until the shrimp is opaque and the sauce is thickened.
- Serve over rice.
