Archives for December 2008

I think stir fried green beans are my all time favorite dishes and they are so easy to make. This Szechuan inspired dish is not too hard to make. I started by quickly steaming some green beans in a hot pan with a splash of water and a cover just until they turned bright green. That takes only a minute. You don’t want to overcook them. Once flash steamed the beans are quickly cooled in cold water and drained. I like to precook the beans a bit as it makes it easier to stir fry without burning them. Next I took some chopped pork and seasoned it with salt, pepper and Szechuan peppercorn. I added some chopped garlic and ginger to the meat. I heated my wok until it was almost smoking, added some oil and threw in a half teaspoon of red chili in oil. This was the kind of chili that is like red pepper flakes that have been cooked in oil and placed in a jar. The meat was added to the wok and it was fried with constant stirring just until cooked.

The meat was removed from the pan and set aside.

The wok was heated again and the beans were tossed in. The beans were seasoned with just a dash of salt and pepper. They were stir fried for 3-4 minutes until they started to get browned on the sides. I like to add my ginger and garlic near the end so it doesn’t burn. So, once the beans were almost ready I tossed in more garlic and ginger. This was stirred for just a few moments and the meat was added back into the pan. A teaspoon of garlic chili paste and a splash of soy sauce. That’s it! Serve hot over rice.