Thai Long Bean Salad with Peanuts
Crisp raw long beans are bruised in a mortar with garlic, fresh chilies and dried shrimp, then tossed in a tangy, salty-sweet lime and fish sauce dressing and finished with crunchy roasted peanuts. It's fresh, fiery and ready in about 40 minutes with no cooking.
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- —
- Wait
- 15 min
- Total
- 40 min
- Makes
- About 3 cups (4 side-dish servings)
Steps
Before you start
- Buy long beans that are firm, bright green and snap cleanly. Limp or leathery beans taste grassy and tough when raw.
- Start soaking the dried shrimp first. They soften while you prep everything else.
- Use roasted, unsalted peanuts. If you only have salted ones, rub off the excess salt and start with 1 tablespoon less fish sauce.
- Thai bird chilies are very hot. Start with 2 if you're unsure, and wash your hands well after handling them.
Soak the shrimp
- Put the rinsed dried shrimp in a small heatproof bowl and pour in the ½ cup (120 ml) hot tap water.
- Let them soak for 10 minutes while you prep the rest, then drain well and pat dry with a paper towel.
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Ready when: Shrimp are pliable and slightly plump, with no hard center
Tip: Don't soak longer than 15 minutes or they lose their savory flavor.
Prep the beans
- Trim the ends off the long beans, wash them and dry thoroughly with a clean towel.
- Cut into 2-inch (5 cm) pieces and put them in a large mixing bowl.
- Halve the cherry tomatoes and set them aside.
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Ready when: Beans are dry and uniformly sized
Tip: Wet beans dilute the dressing, so dry them well.
Pound garlic and chilies
- Add the garlic and sliced chilies to the mortar.
- Pound with the pestle for about 1 minute, scraping down the sides, until you have a coarse, wet paste with no large chunks.
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Ready when: A coarse, juicy, fragrant paste with no whole slices of chili
Tip: Cover the mortar with your hand or a cloth when starting to pound so chili juice doesn't splash your eyes.
Add shrimp and sugar
- Add the drained shrimp and the chopped palm sugar to the mortar.
- Pound gently for 30 to 45 seconds, just until the sugar dissolves into the paste and the shrimp are roughly broken up but still visible.
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Ready when: No sugar granules remain and shrimp are in small pieces
Make the dressing
- Stir in the fish sauce and lime juice with a spoon.
- Taste it: it should be bright, salty, a little sweet and clearly spicy.
- Adjust with a squeeze more lime if too salty or a pinch more sugar if too sharp.
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Ready when: Dressing tastes balanced: sour, salty, sweet and hot
Tip: Taste it on a bean piece, not the spoon, since the beans will mute the flavor.
Bruise the beans
- Add a handful of the beans to the mortar and press and bruise them with the pestle 4 to 5 times so they crack slightly and soak up the dressing.
- Transfer to the mixing bowl and repeat with the remaining beans.
- If your mortar is small, work in 3 batches.
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Ready when: Beans are dented and cracked in places but still hold their shape
Tip: Press, don't smash. Pulverized beans turn watery and limp.
Toss and rest
- Scrape any dressing left in the mortar into the bowl.
- Add the halved tomatoes and toss with two spoons, pressing the tomatoes lightly to release some juice.
- Let the salad rest for 5 minutes.
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Ready when: Beans look glossy and a little dressing pools at the bottom of the bowl
Tip: Don't rest much longer than 10 minutes, or the beans start to lose their snap.
Add peanuts and serve
- Sprinkle the chopped peanuts over the salad, toss once, and serve right away on a platter with the juices spooned over the top.
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Ready when: Peanuts are evenly scattered and still crunchy
Tip: Add the peanuts at the last second so they stay crisp.
Good to know
Tips
- Keep the bean pieces to about 2 inches (5 cm); longer raw pieces are tough and awkward to eat.
- Bruising the beans, rather than just tossing them, is what lets the dressing flavor them through.
- Serve with sticky rice and grilled meats, or as part of a Thai spread, to balance rich dishes.
- Taste and adjust the dressing at the end; limes vary in sourness and fish sauce brands vary in saltiness.
Make ahead
"Soak and drain the shrimp, trim and cut the beans, and mix the dressing up to 1 day ahead; store separately in the fridge. Bruise and toss the beans, and add the tomatoes and peanuts, just before serving."
Storage & reheating
"Best eaten within 1 hour of dressing (room temperature: no more than 2 hours). Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to 1 day, though the beans soften and the peanuts lose crunch; eat cold. Not suitable for freezing."
Substitutions
- fresh long beans → Fresh green beans. Choose thin, very fresh beans and bruise them a bit more; they are less tender than long beans raw.
- palm sugar → Light brown sugar. Use the same weight; the flavor will be slightly less caramel-like.
- small dried shrimp → Extra 1 tablespoon chopped peanuts. Gives savory depth without shellfish, though the flavor is less intense. The fish sauce still contains fish.
- Thai bird chilies → Serrano chili. Use 1 small serrano for similar but milder heat.