AI-generated image
Sichuan dry-fried green beans
Blistered, wrinkled beans with chilli, Sichuan pepper and preserved vegetable
Gan bian si ji dou, 'dry-fried four-season beans', is a fixture of Sichuan restaurant menus and home tables alike. The beans are fried until their skins wrinkle and blister, then tossed in a hot, dry wok with chilli, Sichuan pepper and salty preserved mustard greens (ya cai) from Yibin. Nothing is saucy: every bean is coated and slightly chewy. Restaurants usually add pork; this vegetarian version leans on the ya cai for depth. Chef's tip: dry the beans completely after washing, or they will spit and steam instead of blistering.
- Total time
- 20 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
Main
- 14 oz green beanstrimmed, washed and dried well
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 8 dried red chilliessnipped in half, seeds shaken out
- 1 tsp Sichuan peppercornswhole; or ½ tsp black pepper
- 3 cloves garlicfinely chopped
- 1 tsp fresh gingerfinely chopped
- 2 tbsp Sichuan preserved mustard greens (ya cai)or finely chopped Tianjin preserved vegetable
- 1 tsp light soy sauce
- ½ tsp sugar
- ¼ tsp saltto taste
Shop this recipe on Amazon
What you'll need
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (3)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/5 doneStep 1: Heat 3 tbsp vegetable oil in a wok over a medium-high heat. Add 14 oz green beans and fry, stirring every 30 seconds, for 7–8 minutes. They are ready when the skins wrinkle and blister in brown patches and the beans bend without snapping.
8 minStep 2: Push the beans up the sides of the wok (or lift them out) so the oil collects in the middle. Common mistake: covering the wok to speed things up. The beans steam, turn olive green and never wrinkle.
Step 3: Lower the heat to medium. Fry 8 dried red chillies and 1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns in the oil for 20–30 seconds until the chillies darken a shade and smell toasty; don't let them go black.
1 minStep 4: Add 3 cloves garlic, 1 tsp fresh ginger and 2 tbsp Sichuan preserved mustard greens (ya cai) and stir for 30 seconds, then toss the beans back through. Season with 1 tsp light soy sauce, ½ tsp sugar and ¼ tsp salt and stir-fry for 1 more minute until everything is dry and coated.
2 minStep 5: Serve hot or warm as part of a shared meal. Warn guests about the whole chillies; they're for flavour, not for eating.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 140 kcal
- Protein
- 3 g
- Carbs
- 10 g
- Fat
- 10 g
- Fibre
- 4 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does sichuan dry-fried green beans take?
- About 20 minutes in total: 5 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it very spicy?
- It has some heat. Use less chilli for a milder version, or more if you like it hot.
- What can I use instead of garlic?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
- What can I use instead of fresh ginger?
- ¼ tsp ground ginger per tbsp fresh (add it with the spices).
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
TashmijabiMashed potatoes with stretchy cheese
Potatoes grow well in the cold valleys of Svaneti, and tashmijabi is how families around Mestia turn them into a feast dish: they are mashed hot, then beaten with handfuls of young sulguni until the purée becomes glossy and stretches from the spoon in long strands. It is served with grilled meat, kubdari or simply with pickles and Svan salt. A common mistake is letting the potatoes cool before adding the cheese; they must be piping hot for the cheese to melt and stretch. Chef's tip: keep the pan on a low heat while you beat, and use a firm wooden spoon. Most sulguni uses animal rennet; choose a vegetarian one or use mozzarella.
Georgian
Jamaican callalooSteamed callaloo greens
In Jamaica, callaloo means the leaves and tender stems of a type of amaranth, sold in big bundles in every market from Coronation Market in Kingston to Santa Cruz in St Elizabeth. It's steamed down with onion, tomato, garlic and thyme into soft, savoury greens with a mild mineral sweetness, and eaten at breakfast with fried dumplings, boiled green bananas or hard dough bread, or as a side at dinner. Spinach or Swiss chard can stand in if you can't find callaloo. Chef's tip: peel the fibrous skin from the thicker stems with a small knife and slice the stems and leaves finely across, about 1 cm wide. That's how Jamaican cooks get callaloo that's tender all the way through rather than stringy.
Jamaican
Char siuHoney roast pork
Hanging in long glossy strips in the windows of Guangzhou's siu mei shops, char siu is the roast pork Cantonese families pick up on the way home to put on rice, noodles or into steamed buns. The outside is lacquered, sweet and a little charred at the edges; the inside stays juicy, savoury and faintly scented with five-spice. Shoulder (pork butt) is the cut to use, because its marbling keeps the strips moist through a hot oven. Marinate it overnight in the fridge, roast it the next day and eat it warm with steamed rice and blanched greens, or cold in fried rice and noodle soups. Chef's tip: save the honey for the last ten minutes; brushed on at the start it burns black long before the pork is cooked.