Green Beans Sichuan

By mariannefeldman

Cook's Illustrated

STIR-FRIED SICHUAN GREEN BEANS

Published January 1, 2007.
4 as a side dish or 2 as a main course.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
To achieve the chewy texture and spicy tang of a traditional Sichuan green bean recipe, but without the mess of deep-frying, we stir-fried beans longer than usual, so they became charred in places, giving them the deep, caramelized flavor we wanted. To create the right sauce for our Sichuan green bean recipe, we combined dry mustard, dry sherry, a little sugar, ground white pepper, chopped scallions, and a drizzle of sesame oil, then added simple ground pork, which worked fine as a replacement for the shredded bits of Chinese barbecued pork often added at restaurants.

To make this dish vegetarian, substitute 4 ounces of shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and minced, for the pork. If using mushrooms, you will need to add a teaspoon of oil to the pan in step 3 before adding the mushrooms. The cooking of this dish goes very quickly, so be sure to have all of the ingredients prepped before you start. Serve this dish with steamed white rice.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon dry sherry
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 pound green beans , ends trimmed, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1/4 pound ground pork
• 3 medium cloves garlic , minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 1 tablespoon)
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 3 scallions , white and light green parts sliced thin
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

Preparation

Step 1

1. In small bowl, stir together soy sauce, sherry, sugar, cornstarch, white pepper, pepper flakes, mustard, and water until sugar dissolves; set aside.

2. Heat oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat until just smoking. Add beans and cook, stirring frequently, until crisp-tender and skins are shriveled and blackened in spots, 5 to 8 minutes (reduce heat to medium-high if beans darken too quickly). Transfer beans to large plate.

3. Reduce heat to medium-high and add pork to now-empty skillet. Cook, breaking pork into small pieces, until no pink remains, about 2 minutes. Add garlic and ginger; cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, 15 to 20 seconds. Stir sauce to recombine and return beans to pan with sauce. Toss and cook until sauce is thickened, 5 to 10 seconds. Remove pan from heat and stir in scallions and sesame oil. Serve immediately.

Per Serving:

Cal 200; Fat 14 g; Sat fat 3 g; Chol 20 mg; Carb 12 g; Protein 8 g; Fiber 4 g; Sodium 680 mg