(Psophocarpus tetrangonolobus)
Winged bean, goa bean, asparagus bean, four-angled bean, Manila bean, Princess pea
This is a four-sided tropical legume from a perennial bush.
Until 1975, when it was uncovered and reported by the National Academy of Sciences National Research Council, this bean was virtually unknown. It had been grown almost exclusively for generations as a staple legume in tropical Southeast Asia, New Guinea, the Philippines, and Ghana.
With its discovery came the title “Supermarket on a Stalk” since it is exceedingly high in food value.
Every part of this lanky vining plant is edible, except for the stalk. It has a decorative four-sided green pod that flares from the center into rippled edges on wings.
It is the immature pod that is the most popular in the US, and has been compared to a cross between a green bean and a cranberry bean.
The pods range from three inches to almost eighteen inches in length. The leaves are said to taste like spinach. The flowers are sweetened by nectar and resemble mushrooms in flavour when they are sautéed.
The immature seeds within the young pods taste like garden peas; and, when they are mature, they resemble soybeans and have much the same nutritional value. In addition to the seeds, the pods, young leaves, flowers, and shoots are also eaten as vegetables.
In some countries, the root tubers, which are rich in protein, are also prized. Both the pod and the tuber constitute a first-class source of protein for many Asians, as much as 37%.
The tubers of such leguminous plants as this one provide much more nutrition than other root crops. Most are low in protein, but leguminous tubers benefit from nitrogen fixation, becoming very rich in protein.
The flowers
are added to dishes to colour them blue; and, when fried, have a flavour much like mushrooms. These beans were named after one place that cultivated them. Goa was once a Portuguese possession consisting of a narrow strip of coastline that was the gateway to Portugal’s eastern empire for several hundred years and now a part of India.
