Friday, December 12, 2008

Szechuan Style Green Beans



I bought green beans last night and came home to fix them using my usual recipe but I couldn't find my recipe (imagine that). And I was too lazy to get online and look it up here on my blog so I quickly glanced in a recipe notebook I have and I found this recipe. It will now replace my old chinese green bean recipe. These are awesome. Try them, I bet you'll love them too.

1 lb. fresh green beans, rinsed, drained and stem end trimmed off
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 Tablespoon rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons seasame oil
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon hot chili flakes
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons fresh ginger, minced (I used powdered ginger)
1/4 cup onions or shallots, sliced
Balsamic vinegar


Cut beans into 2 to 3 inch lengths. In a small bowl, mix the soy sauce, rice vinegar, seasame oil, sugar, chili flakes and pepper. Place a large skillet over high heat, when the skillet is hot add the beans and 1/4 cup water. Cover and cook, stirring once, until beans are bright green and slightly crunchy to the bite. This will take 4 to 5 minutes. Uncover and cook until all the liquid is gone.
Add the olive oil, garlic and onions or shallots to the skillet, stir until the beans and garlic are slightly browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Add soy sauce mixture to the skillet, bring to a boil and stir until most of the liquid is evaporated and the sauce thickens and coats the beans, At this point, I add a few splashes of balsamic vinegar. Simmer 2 to 3 more minutes. Pour into a serving dish and serve hot or cool.


Don't count on having leftovers.


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