Yongchaak singju / stink bean salad
I have been putting off a post on yongchaak singju for some months now. But, I realised that yongchaak season will soon be over and then I wouldn't have the chance to do a post on it and photograph this beautiful vegetable (yongchaak, that is) in all its splendor for another year.
Yongchaak is popularly known by the name stink bean, but is also called bitter bean, twisted cluster bean, sato, kampai, zawngtah, peteh or petai. It has a unique smell which is often compared to the smell of natural gas and because of that, you either hate it or love it. The beans inside the pods are a rich source of protein and it is more pungent in taste than the rest of the pod. The pods are flat when young because of the undeveloped beans and it is the best stage to eat them as singju/salad. Mine were a little matured for yongchaak singju but it can pass.
For yongchaak sinju, you will need:
2 pods of yongchaak (young flat ones or at least still tender pods).
4-5 ngaari (Manipuri fermented fish).
1 small fried or roasted fish.
1 small onion.
a few sprigs of coriander leaves.
3-5 toningkhok/fish mint leaves.
20-30 red chilies (!)... or as preferred.
salt to taste.
With fresh yongchaak, you need a yong-khot like you need a butcher knife for meats. A yong-khot is a metal tool locally made out of iron, and it resembles a tongue cleaner. In fact, I remember using a tongue cleaner instead when I was in Delhi because I didn't have a yong-khot. Did it work?... more or less. It is used for scrapping away the outer layer of the yongchaak pods. Unlike a tongue cleaner, the curved blade in the middle is sharpened like a knife, which makes scrapping the yongchaak peel easier.
Although the peel is scrapped since the outermost layer of the peel is unpleasant to taste, it is still very edible and, I have heard, healthy.
Lay the yongchaak pods in a plate with a little water and use a yong-khot (or a new and clean metal tongue cleaner) and scrap away the outer layer of the pods
Remove the hard edges of the pods with a knife as shown in the picture above.
Now, cut the pods cross-section-wise as thinly as you can with a knife.
There you go!
Heat up the small roasted or fried fish if you want.
Put the ngaari and dried red chilies in a small pan and add some water. Add in your small roasted fish mentioned in the previous step too if you are using a one which has been roasted till crisp and has no moister in it (like a leirou). Boil them till only around a tablespoon of water is left in the pan. This is done to soften the chilies and the ngaari (and the dry roasted fish, if used).
Squeeze out the insides of the chilies and discard the peels.
Peel and debone the fish and put it together with the chilies and ngaari. Add in the salt too.
And pound them together till they are mixed well.
Add the pounded paste to the chopped yongchaak and mix them well with clean hands. Most Manipuris are used to mixing spicy mixtures like these with bare hands and do it without a thought. But I recommend that you use gloves lest you accidentally rub your eyes with them.
Chop the onion and add it to the mixture. Gently mix them to the mixture too. Make sure you don't squeeze the moisture out of them while mixing.
Chop the fish mint leaves and coriander leaves and add them too. Lightly mix them to the mixture too.
Your spicy yongchaak singju is ready. Enjoy!