Perhaps I’ve come close to solving the puzzle why we call sitaw (also spelled sitao in Tagalog, câmangyáng in Kapampangan, utong in Ilocano, Badiriya in Lebanese Arabic and die Fisolen in Austrian German) stringbeans while to many parts of the English-speaking world, they’re yard-long beans. I came across a paper from the American colonial period where they were most probably writing the English translations for our native vegetables and what did they call sitaw but “long stringbeans” (trust the Americans to leave us confused, hehehe!). Perhaps through time the adjective was dropped and so we are now left with just “stringbeans”. Now I’d like to pinch my own ears because I forgot to write down the source of the paper and have no idea where I read it. Pardon my negligence this time.

In any case, here is another recipe which makes use of these beans. I was a bit hesitant to post this recipe as it is quite common, most probably found in all Filipino food websites. However, I am a bit amused at requests for me to post a Kapampangan pinakbet recipe. What recipe? Pinakbet is unmistakably Ilocano. The way it is properly cooked, according to my mom and aunties who lived in Baguio, is by stewing without oil until the vegetables have dried up and shrivelled. But since requests persist and I promised Renee on Shiokadelicious! sometime back, I will post how Kapampangans cook it, which I’m certain would make hardcore Ilocanos cringe.
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Is My Blog Burning? is the brainchild of Alberto at Il Forno and it has really caught on as bloggers the world over eagerly await and prepare for the monthly event. Today would be the eleventh edition and we anticipate the sharing of recipes around the theme ‘beans’. Cathy at my little kitchen is hosting it this time. I should also mention that this is the first time I’m taking part in the events though I’ve been listed in the IMBB portal since November of last year.

When Cathy announced this month’s theme, I was both relieved that I didn’t lack for kinds of beans and recipes yet worried that I may not be able to decide from among the choices. There is a whole wide world of beans and a line in the Tagalog folk song ‘Bahay Kubo’ (My Nipa Hut) enumerates the most common Philippine species – sigarilyas… sitaw, bataw, patani, munggo… (winged beans … the ones in the picture above, hyacinth beans, civet or lima beans, mung beans). In fact, on the PC at that very moment I had pictures of at least two recipes with sitaw as an ingredient. Which one would it be?
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Or beans by any name taste the same…
Or beans of the same name are not the same…
Or things I learn through blogging…

They’re called câmangyáng in Kapampangan and sitaw in Tagalog. All my life I thought they were called string beans in English. Weren’t we taught that at home and in school and aren’t they labelled as such in groceries? Or have I been an ignoramus all these years? Or could it be a Filipinism or a Kapampanganism? How did I find this out if not through blogging? As it happens, in some parts of the world, string beans are what we call bitsuelas (habitsuelas in Tagalog) or Baguio beans here. They are also called French beans, green beans and snap beans in some places. Oh what confusion! But then again, that’s why common names are almost always common only to a place. If I travel to another country, how do I get what I want if I can’t see it yet? The scientific name! Vigna unguiculata ssp. sesquipedalis, also Vigna sinensis for the beans you see in the picture above and Phaseolus vulgaris L. for the snapbeans, the picture of which I will take the next time I am in its presence. Hehe, as if people in restaurants and marketplaces are conversant with the system devised by Carolus Linnaeus. “A plate of Arachis hypogaea and some Zea mays on the cob to snack on, please.” That would be the day!

Now, how did all this begin? In mid-November, Renee at Shiokadelicious! posted her Long Horny Beans entry. In the succeeding discussion we found out that what we call string beans in the Philippines and in Singapore are not the same species. From the comments it dawned on me that the Tagalog sitaw is most probably closely related to the Hokkien chai tau. Ooohhh, it was getting interesting, related to what I was planning to trace food pathways. But that’s for another post.
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