Source: Wikipedia I have been receiving quite a few e-mails from my friends with regards to some of the items I have been using in my cooking. So, I have decided to include a new category to my posting, GLOSSARY, as an attempt to give my friends and readers a better understanding of the ingredients or methods I am using in my cooking. I hope this will assist you in your cooking. For my first post on GLOSSARY, I’d thought I’d start with this unique ingredient used predominantly in South East Asian cooking, PETAI.
Source: Wikipedia
Petai or Parkia speciosa (also know as sator, sataw, twisted cluster bean, yongchaa, yongchaak, zawngtah or stink bean), is a plant of the genus Parkia in the family Fabaceae. It bears long, flat edible beans with bright green seeds the size and shape of plump almonds which have a rather peculiar smell, characterised by some as being similar to that added to methane gas.
They are an acquired taste, but are popular in southern Thailand, Burma, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and northeastern India, and are sold in bunches, still in the pod, or the seeds are sold in plastic bags. The seeds are eaten raw, grilled or blanched. They are exported in jars or cans, pickled in brine or are sold frozen. It is available at most Asian grocers.
The Petai beans or seeds look like broad beans. Petai has earned its nickname 'stink bean' because its strong smell is very pervasive. Like mature broad beans, they have to be peeled before cooking. It lingers in the mouth and body. Like asparagus, it contains certain amino acids that give a strong smell to ones urine, an effect that can be noticed up to two days after consumption. And like other beans, their complex carbohydrates can also cause strong-smelling flatulence.
The petai is said to have many healing properties such as it provides enough energy for a 90 minutes work out, a cure for depression, alleviates PMS, stimulates the production of haemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anaemia, reduces the risk of blood pressure and stroke, aids in brain power, helps constipation, has a calming effect, assist in weight loss, a relief for heartburn and morning sickness..…. And the list goes on and on. For the full benefits of petai, go to KLBIOTECH.
So, are you game to try PETAI???
SOURCES:WIKIPEDIA and KLBIOTECH
Very informative post,thanks for sharing this information, have never had this , will look for it in the future :-)
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome Usha. Do let me know how you go and what you think of the bean.
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