TASTE
Three ways to enjoy long beans, Lao-style
- 2-4 Thai chili peppers, chopped
- 1/2 cup raw long beans, sliced into 1-inch lengths
- 1/2 cup grape or cherry tomatoes
- 1 cup peeled, shredded green papaya
- Juice of 1/2 lime (or more, to taste)
- 1 tablespoon sugar (more or less, to taste)
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce (don't overdo this)
- 2 tablespoons plus 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup chopped Chinese roast pork
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups raw long beans, sliced into 1-inch lengths
- 2 cups cold cooked long-grain rice
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Minced green onion to taste
- Lettuce and sliced cucumber for garnish
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 4 cups long beans, cut into 1 1/2-inch lengths
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced red bell pepper
- 1 tablespoon red Thai curry paste blended with 1/2 cup water
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 10 Thai basil leaves
| • Fresh from the farm |
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The Ho family, farmers and owners of Ho Farms in Kahuku, are characteristic of many Southeast Asian families in that the everyday food they eat is a reflection of a multicultural ethnic background. Though mother Le Xieng Ho was born in Laos, she is ethnically Chinese. Father Wei Chong Ho is Chinese and Laotian. Children Shin, 27, and Neil, 23, moved to the Islands with their parents when they were very young and enjoy both Southeast Asian and Western foods.
So it is that fried rice — Chinese-style with Laotian touches — is an almost everyday lunch for them. But Laotian-style green papaya salad appears on the table very often, too. As do vegetables stir-fried in Thai red curry paste. The two cuisines have similarities, and since many Thai restaurant owners here are ethnically Lao, the two cuisines blur, particularly in Hawai'i.
In a cooking session in her outdoor and indoor kitchens, Mrs. Ho shared the simple recipes that the family often eats, sitting around the kitchen table, or standing up, on the go between farm jobs. (You'll notice a certain long bean theme here: This is one of the crops the Hos grow, in addition to their signature mini tomato color blend.)
Islanders who love Thai or Vietnamese food generally love green papaya salad, but Laotian-style salad is made a bit differently and offers a different taste experience. It begins with technique: Not only papaya is used, but also other vegetables, such as long beans or cucumber and tomatoes. And, rather than being simply julienned, the papaya is crushed, along with the other vegetables, to express juices to mingle with the flavoring ingredients.
For this, a Laotian-style mortar and pestle are used. Unlike the squat stone Thai vessels, this is a bell-jar-shaped, deep, rimmed pot in which a wooden pestle is used. The motion is not the circular grinding one used in making a Thai-style spice paste in the stone mortar but a straight up-and-down thumping. The point is not to mash the vegetables but merely to break them open a bit. It's the work of a few minutes. The depth of the vessel and the curved rim keep ingredients from flying out, and Mrs. Ho deftly uses a spoon to combine and toss ingredients between every few thumps.
The chili peppers used are longish, bright-red ones. A word about spice. Laos like it hot. In preparing this salad for us, Mrs. Ho used two chili peppers and it was quite fiery but not unbearable. Know your limits.
GREEN PAPAYA- LONG BEAN SALAD
In the mortar, briefly pound the Thai chili to break it up. Add long beans and pound for a couple of minutes. When long beans are broken up, add tomatoes and papaya and pound. Use a serving spoon to stir and toss the mixture between thrusts of the pestle. Squeeze lime juice over mixture and pound another couple of minutes. Add sugar and fish sauce and pound and toss just until well mixed. Taste and correct seasonings. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
Note: If you don't have a Laotian-style mortar, place the ingredients in a deep, sturdy bowl that won't crack when you're pounding. Search the kitchen drawer for a tool you can use to pound: The end of heavy steak tenderizer, for example. Or, if you're a drinks-maker, your wooden muddler. Or, use a smaller mortar with a wooden pestle and work in batches. Another possibility is to spread the ingredients, in batches, on a cutting board and pound them lightly with a steak tenderizer, combining them in a bowl as you work.
Makes 2 servings.
• Per serving: 70 calories, 0 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 650 mg sodium, 16 g carbohydrate, 4 g fiber, 9 g sugar, 2 g protein
In making fried rice, whether Chinese or Lao or whatever, the key is something many home kitchens don't have: a very hot, very controllable fire. If you have an electric stove, it's almost impossible to get sufficient heat. Consider investing in a small, portable gas burner.
Another key: long-grain rice (they use jasmine) cooked the night before and refrigerated. "The older the rice, the better," says Shin Ho.
The roast pork used here is not char siu but the plain roast pork readily available in Chinatown.
For a beautiful presentation, Mrs. Ho packs the fried rice tightly into a soup or saimin bowl, pressing down. She then places the serving platter upside down on top of bowl, positioning it where she wants the rice to be and flips the whole to produce a tight mound of glistening fried rice.
LONG BEAN FRIED RICE
Heat wok over high heat for 1 minute, add 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and heat until oil shimmers. Add roast pork and stir-fry until browned. Remove with slotted spoon or Chinese strainer. Add eggs, scrambling, and allow to brown and crisp a bit. Remove with slotted spoon or Chinese strainer. Add additional tablespoon vegetable oil, heat and add long beans. Stir-fry long beans 1 minute, just until they turn bright green. Add rice, breaking up clumps and keeping ingredients moving so they don't over-brown. Return roast pork and eggs to mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste (about a half teaspoon of each). Throw in green onions and remove to serving platter. Garnish, scattering additional minced green onions over, if desired. Serve immediately.
Makes 2 very generous servings.
• Per serving (with 1/2 teaspoon salt): 660 calories, 31 g fat, 5 g saturated fat, 245 mg cholesterol, 700 mg sodium, 55 g carbohydrate, 6 g fiber, 1 g sugar, 23 g protein
This quick stir-fry may be made with any vegetables you like: Western-style beans, carrots, celery, onions, potato, cabbage, sweet peppers, green papaya, mushrooms, eggplant, hard squash. Just make sure all ingredients are cut into roughly the same-size pieces and add softer textured ingredients later in the cooking. It's the kind of thing Southeast Asian moms alter to suit what's in the cupboard and the tastes of their families. Made as it's presented here, it's spicy but not hot. The beans are only lightly cooked, still snappy.
Thai curry paste is sold in plastic tubs in most grocery stores.
LONG BEANS IN RED CURRY PASTE
Heat a wok or large sauté pan over high heat, add vegetable oil and heat until shimmering. Toss in long beans and stir-fry for about 1 minute. Add bell pepper. Stir in Thai curry paste mixture and cook for 1 minute. Add sugar, fish sauce and basil and stir fry 1 minute. Remove and serve hot.
Makes 4 (1/2-cup) servings.
• Per serving: 160 calories, 11 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 330 mg sodium, 13 g carbohydrate, 6 g fiber, 2 g sugar, 3 g protein
