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Dragon tongue beans, the younger less mature version of cranberry beans, have a yellow shell streaked with red and burgundy. When young, both the shell and beans are delicious for eating; as they mature, the shell becomes tough however the beans can be used for drying and planting. The young beans carry a starchy, nutty, sweet taste and are striped with pink and purple. These beans are typically ready for harvest in Ontario in late summer, when the beans turn from lime green to buffed yellow with purple stripes.
These beans, when young, can be enjoyed raw on their own or in salads. Cooking these beans causes them to lose their colour, however pickling them allows them to keep their vibrant colour. They can also be used in stir-frys, sauteed, or roasted. The more matured beans can be used as legumes and should be cooked before consumed.
Dragon Tongue beans are a heirloom variety bush bean that were developed in the Netherlands in the late eighteenth, early nineteenth century. From there it spread to France and England then eventually to the North America. Dragon Tongue beans have been naturalized in a wide range of climates throughout the Americas, having the ability to adapt to heat and humidity.
