These beans are my favorite thing that I ate a few years back on a trip to Thailand. I was traveling alone which gave me ample opportunities to talk to strangers – my second favorite thing to do while traveling. I remembered having a great conversation about how to recreate these magic beans so I busted out an old notebook and found the recipe for “yam tua fak yiaow.” The spelling, translation and pronunciation are all up for debate as I’m sure I had a few Singha beers when gathering the information. Whatever you call it, this dish is for sure the best way to eat all the string beans.
When Diana was visiting Chicago last winter, I hosted our favorite food blog friends, Rachel and Lucy of Dinner was Delicious for a Thai-inspired feast. I made these green beans and a whole bunch of other things and Diana was hooked. We bought beautiful green beans from a market in LA over the summer and did another recreation with less wine and more documentation on how to do these RIGHT. She was the most perfect student on how to cut the green beans and we whipped this dish up quickly for a healthy snack. These beans can easily be a full dinner if you eat them like french fries the way we do or a fun side to whatever else you have happening on your dinner table. They’re easy, incredibly delicious and addictive!
- ½ cup coconut milk
- 3 ounces soft tofu
- 2 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce (don’t skip it, please!)
- ½ lime, juiced
- sriracha, to taste
- 1 shallot, thinly sliced
- 2 pounds green beans, sliced lengthwise
- chile flakes -- preferably red birds eye but I'm not picky.
- Steam beans until just tender. Shock in ice water to stop cooking.
- Blend or thoroughly whisk tofu and coconut milk until smooth. Whisk in crunchy peanut butter, soy sauce, fish sauce, lime juice and sriracha. Toss sliced shallot and green beans in coconut sauce – garnish with chile flakes. Enjoy at room temperature.
- These are great leftover and last about 4 days in the refrigerator. The sauce can be made ahead and held for about a week.
