Szechuan Green Beans

(serves 4)

This dish has taken many attempts to perfect. It's a typical Chinese dish that i love and always want to order at the Chinese restaurant, but never quite seems worth it because it's essentially just green beans. Having said that, when done well, they are amazing green beans, probably because they are deep fried. The dish is all in the texture of the beans, to be done well they need to be soft and withered, yet crunchy at the same time - which is hard without deep frying. Anyhow, my long experimental journey with these beans has almost come to an end i think. Lining the bottom of a deep fry pan with oil and patiently flipping the beans as they cook on high heat (rather than the wok) left me somewhat satisfied with the texture of about 80% of the beans. For now, it'll do.

Prep time: 20 min
Cooking time: 25-30 min

Ingredients:
300g green beans
Vegetable oil
80g pork mince
1/2 T minced ginger
1/2 T Szechuan preserved vegetable
2 cloves garlic
1 T dried shrimp
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp rice wine
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/3 tsp chicken stock powder (bouillon)
Marinade:
2 T soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar

Method:
1. Marinate the pork mince with soy sauce, sesame oil, salt and sugar.
2. Top and tail the beans.
3. Heat a large saucepan with enough vegetable oil to cover the base.
4. Add the green beans in and cook on high heat for 5-8 minutes, flipping regularly to avoid burning. Beans are done when they look withered. Drain on paper towel. This may have to be done in 2 batches, as it cannot cook properly if the pan is too crowded.

5. Meanwhile, finely dice the dried shrimp, garlic and preserved vegetable.
6. Once the beans are done, reheat the oil in the pan, and add the shrimp, ginger, garlic and preserved vegetable.
7. Add the pork mince and stir quickly to ensure the meat breaks into small pieces.
8. When the pork is cooked, add the green beans and dark soy sauce, rice wine, sugar, sesame oil and chicken bouillon. 
9. Mix through quickly and serve!