The long and winding tale of broad beans

Broad beans are planted in either the spring or autumn.

Farmers in southern China sow broad bean seeds from August to early November. The bean plants blossom the following spring. Their petals are mainly white with purple and black spots. From afar, the flowers flicker in the breeze like the fluttering wings of butterflies.

It takes about eight months for the beans to fully mature.

Along the Huangpu River in Shanghai, seniors prefer crispy and fragrant broad beans -- a dish known as "hushed-up beans,” or 瞒婆蚕豆.

Legend has it that once upon a time there was a lass who was very fond of eating crispy broad beans. Her mother gave her the beans as a reward for spinning and weaving cloth.

After she wedded into a big household, she missed the beans enormously.

One day when she was left alone, she secretly cooked her favorite crispy broad beans when her strict mother-in-law returned to fetch her basket. The bride was taken aback and hurried to fill the wok with some water to hush the sizzling sound.

The elderly woman left and the girl turned around to open the lid. It turned out that the braised crispy beans tasted even better. What is more, when the girl was chewing, she made not one champing sound to rouse her in-law’s suspicion.

The story was later disclosed and her neighbors learned the recipe.

Every March, people in Shanghai begin their marathon journey of dining on broad beans. The beans are harvested in Fujian, Zhejiang or Jiangsu provinces at different times, so they appear on dining room tables for months.

Yet one particular type of bean wins the hearts of Shanghai people and they are the “local beans.”

Locally grown broad beans usually mature around the beginning of summer, or Lixia (立夏), the first solar term in summer in the Chinese lunar calendar. They reach wet markets from late April to early May for a brief period of seven to 10 days.

People in Shanghai believe “never leave or forsake.” They have the beans on their table throughout this short harvest season.

The east bank of the Huangpu River (Pudong) and Chongming Island are the major plantation areas for broad beans in the city.

In Pudong, Sanlin beans have the best reputation, though urbanization in the region has gradually reduced farm land.

“The local beans taste fragile and tender, whereas other beans are just soft, even if they are cooked very thoroughly,” a local cuisine blogger remarked. “Even their bean coats are edible.”

“Usually there are two beans in the pod with a curve resembling a waist. We peel off the pod skin and see the twins fast asleep in their white cotton quilt like two aristocrats,” Shanghai author Shen Jialu once said when describing the local beans with affection.

For Shanghainese, few dishes beat stir-fried broad beans with spring onions.

One and a half kilograms of pods usually produce about 500 grams of beans. Oil is added into a wok and heated. Then chopped spring onions, beans, salt, sugar and water are added. The wok is covered with a lid, braised for several minutes above a big fire.

Spiced beans

City God Temple is famous in Shanghai for spiced beans, or wuxiangdou (五香豆 five-scented beans). It's another simple dish with few ingredients — broad beans, anise, cinnamon and salt. They are braised until the green skin coats turn brown.

In its golden age, the temple's spiced beans were a symbol of Shanghai. An old saying goes, “A trip to Shanghai without tasting its spiced beans will not be considered a real trip.”

Broad beans are an imported species said to have been brought to China from somewhere around Israel by a Han Dynasty (202 BC-AD 220) envoy Zhang Qian (164 BC-114 BC).

In colloquial parlance, Shanghai people also describe the vegetable as “cold beans (寒豆)” as farmers usually sow the seeds in autumn and reap the beans in late spring and early summer, which leaves the beans to spend an entire winter in the field.

The broad beans grown in Sanlin are widely praised, yet in Jiading District a high-quality broad bean variety is also popular. It's called the “white bean.”

The white beans have whiter skins, valves and “eyebrows,” and taste sweet and soft. They were selected as major ingredients for the City God Temple spiced beans ever since its founder built the brand.

In 1926, Guo Yingzhou from Yangzhong County, Jiangsu Province, relocated to Shanghai. He initially made a living as a book vendor in downtown Shanghai, but later started to sell spiced beef and bean curds. He later discovered that a popular local snack — the anise bean — was very affordable, and started selling them.

Before the birth of the five-scented bean in the 1930s, the anise bean was a hit snack in Shanghai. And bustling Nanshi (now part of the Huangpu District) was the best place to sell the beans as the City God Temple was often busy and commerce was brisk in the area.

Guo was strict when selecting ingredients and tools. To avoid the beans turning gray, he used a bronze wok instead of iron to enrich the fragrance. He also used cream essence and imported spices in addition to the regular anise, cinnamon, dried tangerine peel, salt and saccharin.

Guo’s spiced beans appealed to his customers, especially with their layer of white frost of salt. They were chewy, tasted a bit salty and sweet, and smelled creamy. They later earned the name: City God Temple rock sugar creamy five-scented beans.

“Five scents” may refer to the spices used as ingredients, or from an anecdote. During Emperor Qianlong’s visit to Jiangnan, he was amazed at the flavor of the anise beans, and gasped “how fragrant” five times.

In 1939, Guo rose from a street vendor to a brand name store owner. By the 1940s his spiced beans were admired as a signature snack of Shanghai.

Jiading's white beans are also worth mentioning. The bean had been exported to Japan for its high quality in late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). In 1959 it was listed as an exhibited item at the World Agricultural Exhibition in New Delhi.

Yet due to low annual output and less-satisfying profit, the local white beans were gradually eclipsed by imported beans from Japan in the 1990s.

To recover the disappearing local flavor, researchers from the Agricultural Technology Extension Service Center of Jiading District have been purifying and nurturing the white beans from a bunch of broad beans varieties since 2021. And the reminiscent flavor of the local delicacy is expected to return to its peak in the near future.

Sites for further exploration:

Sanlin Old Street 三林老街

Sanlin Old Street, or Sanlintang ancient town in Pudong New Area, is known for its savory local broad beans. The ancient street is said to once have been the fiefs of Lin Legeng's three sons. Lin was the first to settle in the area after leaving his hometown in Fujian during the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127). A statue of Lin still stands in Sanlin.

How to get there: Get off at Sanlin Station of Metro Line 11, and the ancient street is about 800 meters from the station.

Qiantan 前滩

The Huangpu River, Chuanyang River, Jiyang Road and Huaxia Road West circle an area known as Qiantan. Some investors believe Qiantan will become the next Lujiazui.

For now, it's home to Sanlin. Despite rapid urbanization, it still boasts wonderful natural resources including a 2.5-kilometer stretch along the Huangpu River and three giant parks that cover a combined 600,000 square meters.

How to get there: Get off at Oriental Sports Center Station of Metro Line 11.

City God Temple 老城隍庙

City God Temple of Shanghai on Fangbang Road M in Huangpu District is adjacent to Yuyuan Garden. The temple worships Huo Guang, a minister of war in the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-AD 25), Qin Yubo of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and Chen Huacheng, a national hero who sacrificed himself to protect Wusongkou Estuary during the Opium War.

How to get there: Get off at Yuyuan Garden Station of Metro Line 10.

Lijiang Ecological Park 沥江生态园

Tourists may enjoy picking fruit and vegetables and even go camping at Lijiang Ecological Park in Jiading District. It's famous for its white beans.

How to get there: Visitors are recommended to get to 5088 Shuangzhu Highway by car.