Vegetables don’t have to be boring. And even my picky daughter loves this dish! There’s a two-step cooking process: you roast the beans first before wok-frying them. At Black Sesame Kitchen, we fry the beans in oil to give this a restaurant-style taste; at home, I prefer to roast them in the oven.
I’ll be teaching this dish, along with Kung Pao Chicken, Sunday July 5 at 7:30am ET (US/Canada).
Wok-Fried Sichuan String Beans Serves 4
1 pound green beans, with the string fibers peeled and ends broken off (if the beans are the very long variety, cut into 4-inch sections)
2-4 tbs vegetable oil with a high smoke point (canola, sunflower, grapeseed)
a pinch salt
1 tsp whole Sichuan peppercorns (optional)
1 tbs minced garlic
1 tsp minced ginger
1 tsp minced scallion (or leek)
2-3 dried chili peppers, cut into 1-inch pieces (optional)
¼ pound ground pork, beef, turkey, or meat substitute like Beyond Meat
2 tbs Yibin preserved vegetable or Sichuan pickled vegetable, minced (optional)
1 tbs Shaoxing cooking wine or sherry (optional)
1 tbs regular soy sauce (Kikkoman, Lee Kum Kee premium, or Shoyu)
¼ tsp white pepper
Roast the beans:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. In a bowl, toss the string beans with 1-2 tbs vegetable oil and salt. Roast in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until the beans begin to blister a little.
Infuse your cooking oil:
Heat wok over high heat and add 1-2 tbs vegetable oil. If using Sichuan peppercorns, add them and gently move them around with a spatula until they release their unique aroma, about 1-2 minutes. Remove only the peppercorns, using a curved spatula. Add the scallion (or leek), ginger, and garlic, chili peppers (optional) and stir for another 1-2 minutes. (Reduce your heat to medium high if the aromatics begin to burn.)
Wok-fry it up:
Add the ground pork (or other meat) and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the following, stirring for 30 seconds in between each addition: preserved/pickled vegetable, cooking wine, soy sauce, pepper, and finally the green beans. Toss for 1 minute, remove from heat and serve immediately.