Dry-Fried Green Beans

• 10 ounces haricots verts or green beans
• Peanut oil
• 3 ounces ground pork (about 2/3 cup)
• 2 teaspoons Shaoxing rice wine or medium-dry sherry
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons Sichuanese ya cai or Tianjin preserved vegetable, finely chopped
• Salt to taste
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil

1. Remove any strings from the edges of the beans and trim off the tops and tails. Break them into short sections (about 2 inches long).

2. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a wok, add the beans, and stir-fry over a medium flame for about 6 minutes, until they are tender and their skins are a little puckered. Remove from the wok and set aside. (If you want to save time, deep-fry the beans at about 350°F until they are tender and puckered).

3. Heat another 2 tablespoons of oil in the wok over a high flame, add the pork, and stir-fry for 30 seconds or so until it’s cooked, splashing in the Shaoxing wine and the soy sauce as you go.

4. Add the ya cai or Tianjin preserved vegetable and stir-fry briefly until hot, then toss in the beans. Stir and toss, adding salt to taste (remember that the ya cai is already very salty).

5. Remove from the heat, stir in the sesame oil, and serve.

Variation:

One restaurant I know in Chengdu cooks a similar dish with bitter melon, which is sensational. The melon is deseeded and cut into thin strips and then fried in the same way as the beans, until the strips are tender and slightly wrinkly. The final frying is exactly the same as in the recipe above, although they do add a few dried chiles and a couple of lengths of scallion, white, and green parts.