How to burn your beans.
Anna Jones does something a bit like this in this week's Guardian and you know what? That's fine.
Hello – thanks for subscribing. To get us started: here’s how to burn your beans.
Take some runner beans (or green beans, or young peas in their pods). Top and tail them – before I do this I use a veg peeler to get rid of the stringy sides, but apparently you don’t always need to? Habit’s a funny thing. If you’re using runner beans, cut them into chunks about the length of a wine cork. If green beans or similar, leave them whole.
Now put a dry frying pan on the hob, crank the heat as high as it will go, and leave it to get smoking hot. You’ll want the extractor fan on. When the pan has really heated up (and I mean really heated up), throw in your beans and leave. them. alone. Let them blister on the side that’s touching the pan. After a few minutes, give them a toss. Leave them alone again. (You could, if you did not live in a flat, do this on a barbecue.)
While your beans are burning, equip yourself with a medium mixing bowl. In a few minutes, those beans are going to leap straight out of the hot pan and into the dressing you’re about to make. You want some oil, and plenty of acid and salt. I’ll often use just olive oil, lemon juice, and torn leaves of mint or basil or both. You could go with olive oil, red wine vinegar, maybe even some grated garlic, an anchovy, a few chopped capers. Or you could try sesame oil, grated ginger, rice vinegar, a little soy sauce. Fish sauce, hot chilli, and lime would be perfect with that bit of char. You could do things with mustard and lovingly diced shallots. Olive oil, preserved lemon, sumac... Look at the direction the rest of your dinner is going and take your beans there.
When the beans are pleasingly blistered all over, hoof them immediately into your dressing and stir, stir, stir. The best way to describe what happens now is with a question. Have you ever gotten sunburnt and then put on aftersun straight from the fridge?
Your beans will drink up the dressing at the same time as they give it some of their smoky, deep flavour. Contact with the beans seems to mellow the dressing a bit at this point, so check it before you serve it – does it want a dash of vinegar or a squeeze of lime?
This is, at least to my mind, a gorgeous side with all manner of things. It’s halfway between a veg side and a relish. A little flatbread or something to mop up the dressing is always a good idea. Let me know if you try it!