MANILA, Philippines — You have been singing about it in the ever-popular ‘Bahay Kubo’ song for the longest time. Now it is time to start cooking with this very interesting vegetable, too. Bataw, after all, is not as common as Sitaw (long bean) or Kalabasa (squash). When you mention Bataw, most people still have no clear idea of what it looks like.
Bataw, which goes by the English names Hyacinth Beans or Lablab Beans, is similar to Chicharo, as it is green and shaped like a pod that bears beans inside. Unlike the Chicharo, it is flatter and has a purplish outline. It is so flat that it does not seem to have room for beans inside it, but it does. Bataw is also not as tender as the Chicharo, as its pod is tough and requires cooking before it can be eaten.
Young Bataw pods, when available, are usually added to Pinakbet in Ilocano cooking. They also go well with other vegetable dishes such as Dinengdeng. They should also fare well in stir-fried vegetable dishes.
A quick check on Google yields a number of recipes that you can try with Bataw, such as Bataw Express or Hyacinth Bean in Spicy Coconut Milk (startersisters.com), a variation of Bicol Express; Ginisang Bataw and Adobong Bataw.
So, the next time you sing "Bahay Kubo" and you get to the “Sitaw, Bataw, Patani…” part, you know what you can do with Bataw.
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