The taste of a unique island, in four bites

White haricot

White haricot [Photo provided to China Daily]

Together with old white wine (sticky rice wine) and white goat, natives of Chongming island treasure white haricot as one of "three whites".

Brought to China from India by Western missionaries more than a century ago, the locals of Chongming have nicknamed it baibiandou, or foreign beans. With a size and texture that are similar to those of English beans, it is usually lightly fried with a spray of spring onions as a vegetable dish and enjoyed from late summer to early winter by island residents.