Spargelbohne

Stir-fried in belacan, this is the Southeast Asian default and the bean can take the funk.

Charred whole with dried chilli, a Sichuan restaurant staple that needs a chewier bean than green beans give.

Sulfur and fat against an earthy, grassy bean that stands up to a hot wok.

Minced pork clinging to short chopped lengths is the everyday home-cooking version.

Funk and salt on a bean sturdy enough not to disappear into the sauce.

Simmered in coconut milk, South India treats it the way it treats any sturdy green vegetable.

Umami dust against a bean chewy enough to hold its shape through a long stir-fry.

Popped in hot oil, the seed treatment works on this bean the way it works on any Indian vegetable.

Aged umami on a grassy chewy bean; not remotely traditional, but it reads like a green-bean gratin.