To Cook String Beans Quickly
Ingredients
Directions
Fill a pot with water and bring it to a boil.
Add a pinch of baking soda to the boiling water.
Add the string beans and cook until tender.
Drain and serve.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- String beans
- Are the main vegetable; they soften as they cook until tender.
- Baking soda
- Raises the water's pH, which helps the beans stay bright green as they cook.
The step that matters
Add the string beans and cook until tender. Cooking too long turns the beans dull olive-green and mushy, because prolonged heat breaks down the chlorophyll and cell walls. Check for tenderness early and drain promptly.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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