Help the development of the site, sharing the article with friends!
The flowers light up like blazing flames and the leaves make the fire bean plant an effective privacy screen. But wait a minute, isn't this plant also a useful plant? The question is: can you eat runner beans or not?
Beans are extremely nutritious when cooked
Do not eat raw!
You should never eat raw beans! They are poisonous. It's the phasin they contain, a lectin that's a toxic protein compound that messes up the body. But this lectin is destroyed at temperatures above 75 °C. Therefore: only raw runner beans are poisonous.
Cooked and fermented edible
You can eat the whole, young pods as well as the later ripening seeds. The bean seeds are extremely nutritious and fill you up well. The flowers of the fire bean plant are also edible. You can even eat them raw. They are suitable, for example, as a decorative element for serving food.
While the taste of the blossoms is reminiscent of snow peas or the blossoms of vetchling peas, the bean seeds taste nutty and, with their floury consistency, are reminiscent of chestnuts. You can also ferment the beans (sour beans). Even in this state, they are non-toxic because the lectins are broken down by the fermentation process.
What can fire beans be used for?
Fire beans can also be used like normal beans. Once dried, they should be soaked in water for 12 to 24 hours before cooking. This shortens the cooking process. Here are a few preparation ideas:
- for soups
- for salads
- roasted as vegetables to meat
- for purees
- with rice
- as a filling for dumplings
- for casseroles
A Styrian specialty
In Styria in Austria, fire beans are even a specialty. They are called runner beans there. Runner bean salad is a common choice in restaurants. It consists of runner beans, onions, vinegar and salt.
tips
If you have harvested too many runner beans and can't use them right away: How about drying the kidney-shaped bean seeds and using them later for stews and the like?