11. 酸豆角 (suān dòu jué, literally pickled bean horn); Pickled Yard-Long-Beans (Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis)
豆角 (dòu jué) is a generic term covering all sorts of green beans, but it is the name used in the market where I bought these. Actually, they are 长豇豆 (cháng jiāng dòu); meaning “long cow peas”, a type of “yard-long-bean”. In fact, they are not a yard long, instead being around half that, at 18 inches/46cm which is the meaning of the Latin sesquipedalis or “one-and-a-half-foot-long”.
These are a very popular pickle, often home made, but also available in markets and supermarkets. They are cured in brine with spices, often chili and sold in bunches like this.
They are chopped up and served over rice, porridge etc or added to stir fries. They are also just served as a side dish with other dishes.
They are also sold factory made in supermarkets and mom and pop stores as a snack. The pickled bean pods are again chopped, then mixed with chili, ginger, garlic, chili oil, etc. As well, as being a snack, people often mix them with noodle or rice dishes.
Fuchsia Dunlop's The Food of Sichuan (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) gives a recipe for curing the beans and then cooking them with minced/ground pork.
The same unpickled beans are also preserved by drying, in which case they are rehydrated and sliced then added to soups, hotpots and stir fries.
