Stink Bean, also known as Parkia Speciosa, Petai, Pete, Bitter Bean, Smelly bean or Twisted Cluster Bean is widely consumed in southern southeast Asia.
The beans grow hanging from a tree, wrapped in a tough outer skin of twisted pods that grow in clusters.
With a high concentration of amino acids, the nutrition packed bean has an aroma that some say could pass as methane gas but in a scrumptious sort of way!
The smell doesn't end at the meal, the scent of stink beans will follow you in a similar way that asparagus makes its comeback: well represented in your urine.
PRODUCT INFO
Peteh beans (sator seed) it flat edible beans with bright green seeds the size and shape of plump almonds which have a rather peculiar smell, similar to, but stronger than that of the shiitake mushroom, due to sulfur-containing compounds also found in shiitake, truffles and cabbage. In Thailand it is called sah-taw look like broad beans. Like mature broad beans, they may have to be peeled before cooking. Peteh bean has earned its nickname 'stink bean' because its strong smell is very pervasive. It lingers in the mouth and body. Like asparagus, it contains certain amino acids that give a strong smell to one's urine, an effect that can be noticed up to two days after consumption. Like other beans, their complex carbohydrates can also cause strong-smelling flatulence.
USES
Peteh beans (sator seed) are best when combined with other strong flavoured foods such as garlic, chilli peppers, and dried shrimp, as in sambal petai or added to a Thai curry such as Thai Green Curry of Duck. When young the pods are flat because the seeds have not yet developed, and they hang like a bunch of slightly twisted ribbons, pale green, almost translucent. At this stage they may be eaten raw, fried or pickled. Young tender pods with undeveloped beans can be used whole in stir fried dishes. In North-eastern India, the seeds or the bean as a whole are eaten by preparing a local delicacy call Iromba or Yongchak singju. Seeds are also dried and seasoned for later consumption. When dried the seeds turn black. In Indonesia, petai is very popular in the highlands of Java.
SEASON
Peteh beans (sator seed) are available between Jun - Jul each year.
