Grilled Chinese long bean sandwich

Here's a grilled green bean sandwich

That should satisfy even a meat eater, such as myself.

Lots of melted cheese, a nice glossy sauce — and it's all made practical by the use of chinese long beans, generally available fresh in any.

Asian market here in the States. But the first thing we'll need to do is to make the perfect garnish for pretty much any hot sandwich and that of course is pink pickled onions. Cut a red onion into narrow wedges from tip to root. This one onion will make considerably more pickles than I need for this sandwich but that's fine. You can eat these on anything. Into a glass. A cup and half, 350mL of vinegar in the pot, with a pinch of salt and like handful of sugar.

Bring to a boil, pour over the onions — that'll clear your sinuses. I prefer no-heat methods for making these pickles, but if you need pickles immediately, as I do right now, it's best to use a little heat. Cool these down and they're ready to go. Now for the sauce. I've got like a tablespoon of cornstarch which I'll disperse in just enough water to make a slurry. It's easier to stir lumps out of a thick liquid. Into that I'm putting a whole cup of soy sauce, 240mL, and then a really big glug of molasses but you could use any form of sugar. Peel and dice some fresh ginger if you want but powdered dry ginger tastes virtually the same in a cooked sauce.

That is less so the case with powdered dry garlic, but garlic powder still tastes really good. Maybe a pinch of chili flakes. Then a big splash of the juice from the pickles I just made. Soy or another salty meaty sauce plus a little thickener, some spice, something sweet and something sour — it's a foolproof formula for a sauce. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly when it gets really thick. There's tons of sugar in here that could stick to the bottom and burn. Just reduce this until it's the texture that you want, which should not take long. Cool to the point where you can taste it and adjust as necessary.

Remember it should be too salty on it's own — too everything, really. It's flavoring something else comparatively bland. I want it sweeter, so more molasses. This is more sauce than we'll need for the sandwich but throw this in the fridge and you can use it in a million things. It's Asian barbecue sauce. I'll thin slice a couple fresh red chilies. Everything that goes on a sandwich needs to be real thin. You can do that without seeding them and then pick the slices up out of the pile of seeds that fall out — leave them behind.

Chinese long beans, about a pound, 450g. They basically tastes like other green beans but they're a difference species — they're a variety of cowpea. Now tell me this sandwich wasn't meant to be.

Get yourself a matching long bread that

Is soft — the softer, the better.

A crusty baguette or something will not do — it'd be rock hard after grilling. Get that cut in half. I'll just snip the stem ends off of these beans. The tails you can leave intact unless they're really dry or showing signs of decay, as these are.

Hey, there's the actual beans inside the pod, which make these a not insignificant source of protein. Plus we have all the fiber in the pod. Good for the gut. But if your sandwiches aren't always this healthy you might consider the sponsor of this video, Ritual. Ritual, of course, makes my go-to multivitamin and protein powder, and now they have a 3-in-1 prebiotic, probiotic and post-biotic supplement to help support gut, digestive and immune health. The pre supports growth and activity of beneficial gut bacteria. The pro has live micro-organisms to help you build a healthy population in there, and the post provides fuel to the cells that make up the gut lining. The capsules are minty, delayed release to deliver the goods to your colon, not your stomach.

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OK, I'll drizzle enough oil on the long beans for a light coating, and I do think this comes out better if you put a little salt on these directly, but go easy because the sauce is super salty. Alright, I've got about eight ounces, 225g of munster cheese slices. I'm snipping them in half so they don't hang over the sides too far. Any cheese that melts will work. Alright — chili slices, sauce, pickles — that's everything. Out to the grill. I've had this coming to moderate heat for about 15 minutes. And here's what makes the long beans so grillable — they don't fall between the grates, as long as you lay them on perpendicular to the grates.

I'll close the lid to trap the heat. I want to let these get pretty brown and soft before proceeding, which should only take five minutes tops. If you undercook them they're gonna be stringy and hard to eat in the context of a sandwich. Soft is good. I put them on the back of the grill so that I have room up front for the bread. I'll fist toast the cut sides for a moment until they've got a little color. Flip them over and lay down by first layer of cheese. I'd suggest laying it on heavy, and if it drapes over the sides a little that's good.

Too much and it'll burn. Now, I'm sure there's a way to move these grilled beans with something other than two sets of tongs, but I don't want to be the one to figure it out. I have two sets of tongs and I am using them. Only half the beans on, at first. I want to thread the toppings through the beans. Scoop on some of that meaty meatless sauce, lay on some picked onions and a few chili slices. Then another layer of cheese. Cooked vegetable sandwiches tend to be really slippery — stuff just slides out of them as you eat.

So I'm melting cheese through the beans to bind everything together. Rest of the beans on top. On goes the sauce — be heavy with it, it's where almost all your umami is coming from. More pickles and more chili slices. Another day I might throw some thin-sliced prosciutto or other cured meat on here, but not today. Then lay on one more layer of cheese to melt and bind everything together. Munster is a great cheese for making melts of all kinds — it's strong enough to complete with other strong flavor and it melts really smoothly. Alright, lid onto the sandwich, and at this point you could wrap the whole thing in foil to make it steam through and soften the bread a bit.

Or if you want the bread really crispy, you can just cover the lid, turn off the heat and let it sit for a minute until melted through. Absolutely you could make this sandwich inside, in the oven, under the broiler instead. And there you go — enough sandwich to feed a family. The only reason I am cutting this on the grill instead of bringing it inside like a civilized person is so that I can get a sexy thumbnail. How's it taste? The beans really give it a great meaty texture and we get meaty flavor from the sauce. And of course pink pickled onions are the ideal hot sandwich condiment — sweet, sour, pungent and a little crunchy, You could, of course, bring the sandwich inside like a civilized person. Again, if you like a softer texture, just wrap this in foil after you've got it finally assembled and let the bread steam through. And hey, if you think green beans can't go on a sandwich, ask the people of Chilé about their traditional chacarero sandwich. Chileans know from sexy beans...