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Sichuan Dry Fried Green Beans

Close-up top view of green beans and ground pork stir-fry in a serving bowl.
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5 from 1 review

Blistered green beans, browned ground pork, fragrant aromatics, and preserved mustard greens are stir-fried in a wicked delicious and spicy Sichuan-style sauce!

Ingredients

Scale

For the Pork Marinade:

  • 200 grams / 7 ounces Ground Pork
  • ½ TBLS Low Sodium Light Soy Sauce
  • ½ TBLS Shao Xing Rice Wine
  • 1 TSP Oyster Sauce
  • ¼ TSP Ground White Pepper
  • ¼ TSP Sesame Oil
  • ½ TSP Corn Starch

For the Stir-fry Sauce:

  • 1 TBLS Low Sodium Light Soy Sauce
  • ½ TSP Dark Soy Sauce
  • 2 TSP Oyster Sauce
  • 2 TSP Shao Xing Rice Wine
  • 1 TSP Sesame Oil
  • ½ TSP White Sugar
  • 1 TBLS Water (optional)

For the Sichuan Dry Fried Green Beans:

  • 1/4 cup Canola Oil
  • 250 grams / 8.81 ounces Yardlong Green Beans (I used dark green beans, but light green is fine too) – washed and pat-dried thoroughly, ends trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
  • 1 TSP Peppercorn Chili Oil
  • ½ TSP Chili Oil
  • 1 TBLS Dou Ban Jiang (Sichuan Pixian Dou Ban Jiang preferred)
  • 1/3 medium Yellow Onion – finely chopped
  • 1 Spring Onion – chopped, white and green parts separated
  • 3 Garlic cloves – minced
  • 1 TBLS minced Ginger
  • 2–12 Red Chilies, to taste (I used Bird’s Eye, but any hot red chilies will work) – chopped
  • 5–6 Thai Dried Red Chilies, to taste – stems removed
  • 1 TBLS Pickled/Preserved Mustard Tuber (zha cai – regular or spicy)

Instructions

Prep:

  1. Marinate the pork: Combine the ground pork, low sodium light soy sauce, Shao Xing rice wine, oyster sauce, ground white pepper, sesame oil, and corn starch in a medium sized bowl. Mix well to combine, then set aside.
  2. Prepare the fresh ingredients: Prepare the green beans, yellow onion, spring onion, garlic, ginger, fresh red chilies, and Thai dried red chilies as indicated in the ‘ingredients section. Be sure to thoroughly pat-dry the green beans to avoid oil splattering when frying. Set aside.
  3. Make the sauce: Whisk together the low sodium light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, Shao Xing rice wine, sesame oil, and white sugar in a measuring cup (or small bowl) until combined well.

For the Sichuan Dry Fried Green Beans:

  1. Shallow-fry the green beans: Heat ¼ cup of canola oil in a large wok over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the green beans and fry, sautéing the beans occasionally for 3-4 minutes, or until they start to wrinkle and are slightly scorched. Use a slotted spoon to transfer to a paper towel lined plate to drain. Remove all but 1 TSP of oil from the wok (reserve the rest of the oil in a small bowl).
  2. Cook the pork: Heat the 1 TSP of oil in the wok over high heat. Once hot, add the marinated pork and cook for 2 minutes, breaking up the lumps with your spatula as the pork cooks, until browned and slightly crisp, and cooked through. Transfer to a clean bowl and set aside. Discard cooking liquid in the wok (if any) and wipe it out with a paper towel.
  3. Stir-fry the onion and aromatics: Add 1 tablespoon of the reserved canola oil, peppercorn chili oil, and chili oil into the wok and heat over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the dou ban jiang, yellow onion, and spring onion white parts. Sauté for a minute until combined well and the onion has slightly softened. Add the garlic, ginger, fresh red chilies, Thai dried red chilies, and pickled mustard tuber. Stir-fry for 30 seconds to combine until fragrant.
  4. Add the pork, beans, and stir-fry sauce: Add the cooked pork and green beans back into the wok and pour the sauce over everything. Stir-fry for 1-2 minutes, until combined well and most of the sauce has been absorbed by the beans.
  5. Toss through spring onion: Add the spring onion green parts and toss for 10 seconds to combine, then switch off the heat.
  6. To Serve: Transfer to a serving bowl/plate and serve immediately with warm steamed rice.

Equipment

Notes

  1. Ground pork: Ground beef, chicken, or turkey can be substituted.
  2. Yardlong green beans: They’re also known as snake beans because of their long skinny shape. Look for them in produce shops in Chinatown (if there’s one near you), Asian supermarkets, or wet markets in you’re based in Asia. If unavailable, substitute with string beans (ends trimmed and halved).
  3. Asian pantry staples: Look for dou ban jiang (Sichuan chili sauce/paste made from fermented broad beans and chili peppers), Shao Xing rice wine, oyster sauce, and pickled/preserved mustard tuber (zha cai – 榨菜), and dried Thai or Chinese red chilies in Asian supermarkets. You can use either su mi ya cai – 碎米芽菜, a similar pickled green vegetable or zha cai for this dish.
  4. Chilies: Use less fresh and dried red chilies if you’d like to make this dish milder, or omit completely.
  5. Dry-frying the green beans. If you’d like to make this dish healthier, you can dry fry the beans instead of shallow fry. Heat two tablespoons of oil in a wok over high heat. Once hot, turn the heat down to medium-low and add the green beans. Sauté for 15-20 minutes, until the beans are slightly wrinkled and scorched. Then transfer the beans to a clean plate, and proceed with the rest of the recipe as indicated.
  6. To make this vegetarian/vegan: Omit the ground pork and replace with either finely chopped Asian brown mushrooms (such as shitake mushrooms), or more yardlong green beans. You can also use a plant-based ground meat substitute instead. If using just the beans, I recommend using 454 grams / 1 pound green beans and frying them in two batches so that the wok doesn’t get overcrowded. Also, add the marinade ingredients to the stir-fry sauce in order to incorporate the same level of saltiness and flavor in the stir-fry dish. Be sure to use a vegetarian oyster sauce too.
  7. To make this gluten-free: Use gluten free soy sauces, gluten-free oyster sauce (a vegetarian gluten-free oyster sauce if needed), and dry sherry instead of Shao Xing rice wine.

Nutrition

Find it online: https://thatspicychick.com/sichuan-dry-fried-green-beans/