Wing Beans – Adding Zing to Greens

I was introduced to wing beans late in life. I remember it pretty well – it was an office lunch, a potluck, and one of my Malay colleagues contributed an interesting Asian salad.  Its sauce was fairly typical: prawn paste (hei go), crushed peanut, assam juice, and chili sambal; quite similar to rojak. But the combination of greens was intriguing. There was turnip, pineapple, ginger flower, guava, snake fruit, and of course, wing beans.

Just like aragula, wing beans contribute a surprising, refreshing “green” taste, and a hint of bitterness. Wing beans basically add depths of sweetness and a hint of "rawness" to any veggy cocktail, and because of that, I fell in love with it. Nowadays I like wing beans however it’s done -- in salads or simply fried with belachan.

When a Hong Kong newspaper asked me for a Singapore recipe for their Singapore supplement, I contributed the one below without hesitation.

Wing Bean Salad

Wing bean                             1 cup

Long bean                              ½ cup, blanched in hot water

Cucumber                              ¼ cup, cubed

Red chili                                  2, sliced thickly

Onion                                      ½, sliced thickly

Garnishing:

Fried shallots                      2 tbsp   

Dried shrimps                     2 tbsp, soaked and deep fried

Coriander                             1 sprig, sliced

Salad Sauce (mixed thoroughly):

Sriracha                                  3 tbsp

Tomato                                  1 tbsp

Peanut oil                              ¼ cup

Calamansi juice                   1 tbsp

Sugar                                       ½ tbsp

Salt                                           ¼ tsp

White pepper                      ¼ tsp

Durian                                    3 seeds, deseeded

Calamansi                             2, juiced

Sugar                                      1/3 tbsp

Salt                                          a pinch

Method

1.              Assemble all ingredients in a mixing bowl.

2.              Pour salad sauce slowly and toss with the ingredients until it is sufficiently wet.

3.              Spoon the salad in a serving bowl and top with the garnishings.