Dry-Fried Sichuan Beans | Wok Wednesdays

Dry-fried Sichuan beans. "What is this technique?" you ask.

Lightly salted beans are cooked undisturbed on medium low heat in a small amount of oil and stirred at one minute intervals for about five to six minutes until they are slightly browned. This technique intensifies the flavor of the beans.

The beans are removed from the wok, and the ginger and pork are stir-fried, and then the beans and the rest of the ingredients are added back into the wok. Boom! Deliciousness.

After prepping the ingredients, making these beans took about eight minutes. The recipe is pretty uncomplicated, and doesn't require a huge amount of work in advance. It calls for 12 ounces of thoroughly dry green beans. To save time, I bought a 12 ounce bag of pre-washed and pre-trimmed beans that are meant to be steamed in the microwave. I know it's cheating, but I didn't have to worry about the beans being dry, which is one of the requirements of the technique. The recipe doesn't call for a lot of ingredients (ginger, soy sauce, salt, sugar, ground pork) the most difficult to find being the Sichuan preserved vegetable. Comparatively speaking, making this dish is a rather leisurely affair.

These beans were amazing and so intensely flavorful. How often do you hear that about green beans?

Want some fabulous green beans as well as other amazing, authentic stir-fried dishes? I highly recommend Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge: The Ultimate Guide to Mastery, with Authentic Recipes and Stories by Grace Young. You will find the recipe on page 233.

Would you like to wok along with us? Check out the Wok Wednesdays website as well as the Wok Wednesdays Facebook page. Grace Young her very self is there to help us all master the art of the wok.