Sataw (stink bean).

Sataw comes in long, flat pods that twist as they hang from the tree, each one bumpy with a row of beans inside. Split a pod and the beans are a clear, bright green, about the size of a fingertip. They're crunchy, a little bitter and nutty, with a strong smell that gave the plant its English name, stink bean. People in southern Thailand cook with it all the time. Elsewhere it divides the table: some reach for it first, others pass the plate along.

Ways to use it

• Stir fry the shelled beans with shrimp paste, chilli and prawns. That's the dish most people know, pad sataw.
• Eat a few raw beside a bowl of nam prik, with cucumber and other fresh vegetables.
• Grill the whole pods over charcoal until the skin chars, then pop the beans out.
• Add shelled beans to a southern curry such as kaeng tai pla near the end of cooking.

To shell them, bend the pod at each bean and squeeze it out, or slit the pod along one edge with a small knife. Each bean has a thin skin that some cooks peel off before stir frying.

Storing it

Leave the beans in their pods until you need them, since shelled beans dry out and darken faster. Put the pods in a plastic bag in the fridge drawer and use them within a few days. Rinse the beans under running water once they're out of the pod.

Where it comes from

Grown to certified organic standards. The certificate for each lot is shown when you trace your pack.

Every pack will carry a lot code. Enter it on the Trace your pack page and you will see the farms in that lot, the harvest date and the certificate.