Snake Bean Taste Test

[GoDawgs]

Yesterday I forgot to cook the first two snake beans I picked and found out why they said to preferably use them the same day you pick. They got super limp! This morning I picked two more fresh ones, cut them into 3/4" lengths and sauteed them in a combination of a tad of butter and a little peanut oil. Pickles said they look like asparagus cooking and maybe cook them like that. So I did a quick saute until tender. They tasted kind of like asparagus but with a faint hint of peanut butter hovering around in the background. Not bad at all! In fact, they'd be good in a Thai recipe considering the use of peanuts in those.

Then Pickles got inventive and added a wee bit of soy sauce and sesame oil to the pan along with just a tad of oyster sauce. Even better! So I think we have a winner here. To make a side dish for tomorrow's lunch I think I will do a stirfry with these again and using other garden stuff like the one small yellow squash, a few okra pods, chopped scallions, one string eggplant sliced and the first six green beans I found on the plants this morning. And I'll add the other condiments that were added in today.

Going forward I think I will test the boundaries of how long to let them get before they get tough. One source said pick at 15-18" and another said 18-24". What I cooked was about 14" long so we'll see. I'd like to get the best volume without sacrificing quality. I'll also have to see if production is enough to justify devoting a whole 18' trellis to these things. They're sure using all of it!

Oops! It looks like I forgot to take some pics. Will do that tomorrow.

[worth1]

This is actually a type of cow pea right?

[pepperhead212]

Those definitely sound good! I'll have to try those next season. What was the date you planted them @GoDawgs ?

[karstopography]

https://littlesproutslearning.co/how-to ... ake-beans/
Closer to a cucumber it seems or a gourd.

[GoDawgs]

This is actually a type of cow pea right?

Baker Creek calls is a Snake bean. It is actually a gourd than can be used as a bean in its younger stages.

A reference:

https://www.evergreenseeds.com/snake-gourd/

Some other info I gleaned:

SNAKE BEAN

HISTORY - Native wild gourd found in South and Southeast Asia.

USES - Culinary. Young fruit can be used like green beans. The red pulp of mature beans can be used like tomato paste.

START

- Trichosanthes cucumerina is notoriously slow and spotty in germinating.
- Some growers will gently crack the outer seed coating and soak seeds in warm water for 2-12 hrs before planting.
- Sow seeds in a humid, warm environment.
- Some growers will sow seeds into pots, water and cover in plastic wrap until germinated (about 10 days). Others use a heat mat to warm soil and keep in a warm, sunny area.

GROW
- Once the snake bean has germinated, it is a quick-to-grow annual vine. It will need a trellis or fence to grow up and the flowers will only form fruit when there are warm nights, so be sure to grow this 55-65 day crop in the hottest part of your growing season!
- Harvest when fruit are small or medium in size, no longer than 24 inches long.

PESTS/SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS
- There are no known pests that bother this plant
- However, warm nights are essential for fruit formation, so those in cooler summer climates may struggle to get fruit to form!

SAVE

- Likely, your snake bean will not cross with other lageneria (gourd genus members as it is unique in its species) but to be entirely certain, snake bean should be grown at 1 mile isolation from other gourds to avoid cross pollination.
- Otherwise, caging and hand pollination is required for seed saving.
- Seeds are ready to save when the coating has become quite hard and cannot be dented with a thumbnail.
- Keep seeds in a cool, dry, dark location.
- Also remember that snake gourd has a low germination rate!

Also see: https://gardeningtips.in/snake-gourd-gr ... nd-secrets

[GoDawgs]

Those definitely sound good! I'll have to try those next season. What was the date you planted them @GoDawgs ?

@pepperhead212, after soaking the seeds for two days I planted the seeds on May 15 and the first two popped up May 22. I think there were about 18 seeds in the pack so heeding BC's note about a low germination rate I soaked them all and planted two seeds in each hole about 18" apart on the 18' long trellis. The few leftover seeds got planted under a 4' wide trellis at the end of a raised bed. I would guesstimate about 60-70% germination. They're really weird looking seeds!

First blooms appeared July 6 and first two beans were picked 7/17.

[pepperhead212]

Thanks @GoDawgs! I was hoping it wasn't one of those real slow ones, like red noodle (85 days), and those are fast, for pole beans in general. It flowers fast, like most of those unusual cucurbits I grow. It will be interesting to see how they are when larger.

[GoDawgs]

It is said that they're pretty inedible once they get past a certain length until the become mature. it's at that point that Asian and other folks where this plant naturally grows split them open, scrape out some kind of reddish gel that surrounds the seeds. One source says the red stuff is used something like tomato paste. another source says, "The reddish jelly-like substance surrounding the seeds are often eaten very much like spaghetti sauce in recipes or even used in Ayurveda medicine. Seeds are usually used as fodder for livestock but are toxic to human beings.

So I'm letting some grow to full size to see what that's like. Nobody has tried to describe the taste of that red stuff!

[karstopography]

I planted some snake bean, various bitter melon and then long beans and other asian type legumes. The rabbits went to town on a lot of it,the beans especially, but I see some gourd like plants out there gathering some steam. Maybe one or two are snake beans. Hope so. I want to have some snake bean fun also.