Yardlong Bean: The Pod That Grows 18 Inches Long

Yardlong Bean — ถั่วฝักยาว (thua-fak-yao) — Vigna unguiculata.

These pods can stretch past a foot and a half, and Thai kitchens lean on them daily, that's the yardlong bean — ถั่วฝักยาว, thua-fak-yao, and the edible part is the pods. Used as an everyday food, it provides vitamin C, vitamin K, and folate. Pad Prik King is a classic Thai dry curry where yardlong beans are stir-fried with protein in red curry paste, served hot with jasmine rice and salted duck egg. Tod Mun Pla are chewy Thai fish cakes mixed with crunchy, thinly sliced yardlong beans, deep-fried and paired with a sweet chili cucumber dipping sauce. They grow on a fast-climbing vine that fruits heavily through warm weather.

Pad Prik King — ผัดพริกขิง (pad-prik-king)
Tod Mun Pla — ทอดมันปลา (tod-man-pla)

Food and nutrients

Rich in: vitamin C, vitamin K, folate

Research context

Yardlong beans are a good source of calcium, folate and fiber

Sources

Source: Choi YM, Shin MJ, Yoon H, Lee S (2024). Nutritional qualities & antioxidant capacities of yardlong beans. Antioxidants 13(9):1134. DOI:10.3390/antiox13091134. No bone-density/metabolic-outcome trial located

Narration transcript

Opening

These beans keep growing until a single pod trails past a foot and a half long, dangling from the vine like green shoelaces. Yardlong bean — ถั่วฝักยาว, tu-a-fak-yao. Thai kitchens reach for them daily. You eat the whole slender pod, cut into short lengths, stir-fried into pad prik king dry curry or sliced raw into crunchy fish cakes.

Pad Prik King (ผัดพริกขิง)

In pad prik king, this classic Thai dry curry stir-fries yardlong beans with pork or chicken in a rich red curry paste, served hot with jasmine rice and salted duck egg.

Tod Mun Pla (ทอดมันปลา)

In tod man pla, these chewy Thai fish cakes fold in crunchy, thinly sliced yardlong beans, then deep-fry until golden and come with a sweet chili and cucumber dipping sauce.

Nutrition summary

Snap into a yardlong pod and you're getting vitamin C and folate, with magnesium and thiamin in smaller amounts.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is used to build collagen and helps protect cells from oxidative stress.

Vitamin K

Vitamin K contributes to normal blood clotting and helps maintain healthy bones, working alongside calcium in your body.

Folate

Folate supports normal cell division and blood formation, and plays an especially important role before and during pregnancy.

Closing

Yardlong beans grow on a fast-climbing vine that keeps cranking out pods right through the warm months, so a single planting keeps giving. Pick them young and pencil-thin, before the beans inside swell and the pod turns tough. Follow Longevity Biome, and LIKE this video for regular updates.

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