Sichuan Dry Fried Green Beans

Sichuan Dry Fried Green Beans are a very popular dish both in China and here in the US, as Sichuan cuisine becomes more prevalent. This dish is also known as Szechuan dry-fried green beans of Chinese stir-fried green beans but if the restaurant is any good, they are prepared using the same method and quite tasty. I’m always a little reluctant to order this dish in restaurants, however, because the green beans are deep-fried. (If you didn’t already know this distressing fact, sorry for being the whistle blower!) Deep-frying makes a healthy ingredient very unhealthy, so I’ve been contemplating how to modify the recipe to make it healthy and simple to follow. It’s funny, because when you think about the name of the dish in Chinese, 干煸四季豆(ganbian sijidou), it literally means “dry seared.” So rather than deep-frying the green beans (a method used in restaurants because it’s a faster process), I did just that—seared them in a dry wok without oil. The outcome was brilliant. Also, just as a shout out to any vegetarians and vegans, you can easily omit the ground pork (you can just omit it all together or replace it with more of the pickled suimi yacai). It will still be super tasty.

Sichuan Dry Fried Green Beans: Recipe Instructions

Heat your wok over high heat until just starting to smoke, and add the green beans and salt. Immediately lower the heat to medium low, and sear the green beans for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. You want to see small scorch marks on the green beans. During this process, gather the rest of the ingredients and have them ready. This is always very important to Chinese cooking—the actual time on the stove is usually very short, so having everything prepared and ready to go is essential! Once the beans are somewhat tender, take them out of the wok and set aside. Heat the oil in your wok over medium high heat and brown the pork. It should only take a couple minutes. Add the garlic and dried red chili peppers, and stir for 30 seconds. Add the sui mi ya cai (碎米芽菜), and stir everything together. Cook for another minute. Toss in the seared green beans, shaoxing wine, soy sauce, sugar, and sesame oil. Crank the heat back up to high and stir-fry for a final minute. And you’re done! Wasn’t that fast? Serve these healthy Sichuan Dry Fried Green Beans immediately.