I baked a lot of cookies for my newspaper’s annual holiday cookie contest and my kitchen floor isn’t the only thing that ended up a sweet and sticky mess.
My palate, after baking and tasting a dozen cookies for the recipe competition, was in sugar overdrive. Even a day after the winners were announced, and all the baking supplies were back in my pantry, my taste buds were still screaming out for something—anything!—that didn’t hang its hat on butter, chocolate and brown, white or confectioner’s sugar.
Which is a long way of saying: Thank goodness for Sichuan food.
This easy recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks, “Chinese Soul Food” by Hsiao-Ching Chou, was exactly what I need to get on a sugar-free track. Sichuanese in origin, it involves blistering green beans using a shallow frying method called gan bian, or “dry-frying.”
Because you use less oil and a longer cooking time, the beans are slightly dehydrated, which creates a crispy and charred surface.
Garlic and fresh ginger add just the right amount of aromatic heat, and the recipe also includes soy sauce for a salty finish. Your kitchen will smell like garlic after you cook it, and there probably will also be some grease on the stove, but it’s worth it.
Dry-Fried Green Beans
PG tested- ¾ pound green beans
- ⅓ cup plus 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, divided
- 4 ounces unseasoned ground pork or ground beef (about ¼ cup)
- 1 stalk green onion, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
- 1 large clove garlic, finely minced
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce, plus more as needed
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1½ teaspoon sugar
- White or brown rice, for serving
Trim the green beans and cut them in half. Line a baking sheet with a few layers of paper towels. Set aside,
Preheat a wok over medium-high heat until wisps of smoke rise from the surface. Add 1/3 cup of the oil and heat for 30 to 60 seconds, or until it starts to shimmer.
In batches, add the beans to the oil in a single layer. Quickly stir-fry the beans, gently swishing them around in the oil. The skins of the beans will start to blister,
Once you see that most of the beans look lightly wrinkled but not necessarily browned, about 1 to 2 minutes, using a slotted spoon, transfer the beans to the prepared paper towel-lined baking sheet to absorb the residual oil. Repeat with the remaining beans. Use a wad of paper towels to absorb any residual oil on the wok and brush away any charred pieces.
Return wok to the stove over high heat, and add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Add the pork and, using a spatula, break up the pork. Stir-fry for 1 to 2 minutes, or until brown and cooked through, Add the onions, ginger and garlic, and stir and toss for a few seconds to combine.
Add the soy sauce, water and sugar, and stir to combine.
Add the beans, and stir and toss for a few seconds to combine. If it doesn’t taste salty enough, add an additional splash of soy sauce, and stir to incorporate. Serve with steamed rice.
Serves 4
—“Chinese Soul Food” by Hsiao-Ching Chou (Sasquatch Books, $25)
