Yardlong bean

Yardlong beans can start when your baby is ready for solids, at about 6 months. They are also called asparagus beans, Chinese long beans or snake beans. They come from Africa, where they still grow wild. In Asia they are common in salads, stir-fries and stews.

They resemble green beans, only much longer, sometimes reaching a meter. Although both are legumes, they are closer kin to the black-eyed pea, being a variety of cowpea.

Yardlong beans contain a lot of vitamin C and folate, and they bring fiber, vitamin A, and some omega-3 fat from plants. These help nervous system growth, immunity, iron absorption, digestion and vision.

Cooking

Boiling makes yardlong beans soggy because they soak up the cooking water quickly. Stir-frying keeps some crunch. Serve them raw only as long sections after 18 months. For younger babies, cook them well.

Yardlong beans are tough to chew. Short sections are small and round, so a child may swallow them without chewing, and that adds to the choking risk. At 6 months serve long pieces. Stay close during meals.

Yardlong bean is not a common allergen. Because it is a kind of cowpea, though, cowpea allergy has been reported, rarely. Bean and pea allergy has also appeared in some people allergic to other legumes. Being allergic to one legume does not automatically mean being allergic to all of them, but it does raise the odds of reacting to more than one. Most people allergic to peanut or soy can eat other legumes such as yardlong beans without trouble.

People with birch pollen allergy and oral allergy syndrome may react to legumes, usually with brief itching, tingling or burning in the mouth, and a dangerous reaction is unlikely. Cooking lowers or removes the reaction.