Hyacinth Beans (Pang Pei Dau In Cantonese)

What makes me want to grow "Pang Pei Dau" (in Cantonese) or Asia Purple Hyacinth Bean in my little garden with limited space? It is because I love "pang pei tou" soup. Nowadays its not easy to find them in urban markets. I managed to get some seeds from a friend. Whenever I cook or drink this soup, it always takes me back to the days when I was a kid staying in the village. They were so filled with exciting outdoor adventures and most of them landed me in trouble with mom and spanking from her.

Hyacinth bean stalk is a climber. It is a tropical plant and it grows well in warm climate in well-drained soil. It is very easy to grow. It grow fast and will produce beans for few months. I germinated a few seeds and I planted the young plants in a 46 cm (18 inch.) diameter pot next to the chain link fencing for them to climb.

The bean stalks I have in my garden are the Asia Purple Hyacinth. From the photo you can see that the leaves are green and thin. The pods are green with purple edges and is slightly curved and flat. Other varieties are the Hyacinth Purple Flowers, Hyacinth White Flowers and Hyacinth Asia White Flowers.

The flowers are in shades of purple. Those with deep purple flowers and beans are grown as ornamental plant to show off their lovely, brilliant colour. The flowers are in long, upright stalks, reaching up to the sky.

Even the plants want to reach out and give praise and glory to its Creator.

"To whom will you compare Me?

Or who is My equal?" says the Holy One.

Lift your eyes and look to the heavens; Who created all these?

He who brings out the starry host one by one,

and calls them each by name.

Because of His great power and mighty strength,

not one of them is missing.

(Isaiah 40:25-26, New International Version-NIV)

These are the Hyacinth seeds, ready for germination. These are slightly bigger than the normal red beans and they are dark brown to black in colour.

I usually harvest my Hyacinth beans when they are just starting to mature, i.e. when the pods started to bulge with the seeds inside. Hyacinth beans can be toxic if eaten raw.

Tonight I will be boiling my Hyacinth beans soup with these newly harvest beans. My soup recipes, or all my cooking recipes are very simple (ching chai lah), which is also the name of my blog.

These are the ingredients: Add in a carrot, cut into wedges, some red dates (better to remove the pits), some wolfberries, water and of course meat and some salt to taste.

And my God will meet all your needs

according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

(Philippians 4:19-20, New International Version-NIV)