Petai

The CC went to a Malaysian restaurant where a dish called sambal petai caught his eye. It was described as made with "Malaysian peas" but had a note: "please consult the server before you order".

Needless to say instructions like that are catnip for the CC, and when asked, the waitress replied that they were "peas" that were bitter and warned us. Needless to say, the CC felt compelled to order the dish. (Of course, later when we told the waitress that we loved the dish, she beamed at us with great fondness and pride as if she had known all along that we would love it.)

They were not "peas" of course but a species of bean called parkia speciosa. The colloquial name seems to be "stink bean" which seems a bit unfair because there was nothing stinky about it. Of course, it had been stir-fried with the very strong shrimp paste in a sweet-sour-umami sauce along with other veggies and shrimp. (The sourness came from tamarind.)

The taste is best described as slightly bitter with an astringent component. They are decidedly an acquired taste (what bitter food including beer isn't?) but quite delicious.