Szechuan Dry Fried String Beans With Chai Por (干煸四季豆)

Method14 steps · about 1 hr

1. 1

   Step 1: Trim the bean ends and pull away any tough side fibres. Rinse the beans, drain and dry thoroughly. Prepare the remaining ingredients before starting the frying.

   Uses 500 g string beans · Water, as needed to rinse the beans

2. 2

   Step 2: Pat the lean pork (100 g) dry without rinsing it, then mince finely. Cover and refrigerate it until it is needed in the hot wok.

   Uses 100 g lean pork, finely minced

3. 3

   Step 3: Remove any shell or leg remnants from the dried shrimp (25 g). Rinse, then soak in hot water until softened. Lift out, drain and dry the shrimp. The dry-fry route uses the drained shrimp; discard the soaking liquid.

   Uses 25 g dried shrimp (Hei Bee) · Hot water, enough to soften the dried shrimp

4. 4

   Step 4: Rinse the sweet preserved radish (15 g), drain well and dice into small pieces.

   Uses 15 g sweet preserved radish (Chai Por) · Water, as needed to rinse the preserved radish

5. 5

   Step 5: Peel the 3 cm piece of ginger and mince it finely. Peel and finely chop the three garlic cloves.

   Uses 3 cm ginger · 3 cloves garlic

6. 6

   Step 6: Soak the dried chillies in hot water until soft. Discard the soaking water, remove the seeds, rinse and dry thoroughly, then snip into small pieces.

   Uses 3–5 dried red chillies · Hot water, enough to soften the dried chillies · Fresh water, as needed to rinse the softened chillies

7. 7

   Step 7: Heat the 50 ml frying-oil (50 ml) reservoir in a wok. Fry the dry prepared beans in small batches until cooked through, tender with a little crunch, and blistered with brown spots. Lift out and drain each batch, reserving the remaining frying oil in the wok. Cook all the prepared beans this way without assigning a fixed batch count.

   Uses All trimmed, rinsed and dried beans from step 1 · 50 ml oil for frying the beans

8. 8

   Step 8: Briefly blanch the fried beans in a separate pot of hot water. Lift out, drain, discard the blanching water and pat the beans thoroughly dry.

   Uses All cooked beans from step 7, lifted out of the frying oil · Hot water, enough to briefly blanch the fried beans

9. 9

   Step 9: Pour off the remaining frying oil, leaving exactly 2 tsp in the wok. Add the drained dried shrimp and fry until fragrant.

   Uses 2 tsp retained bean-frying oil from step 7 · All softened, drained and dried shrimp from step 3

10. 10

    Step 10: Push the shrimp to one side. Add the separate 1 tsp fresh oil, then the prepared garlic and ginger, softened chillies and Sichuan peppercorns (1½ tsp). Stir-fry over medium heat until fragrant.

    Uses All fried shrimp and retained oil from step 9 · 1 tsp fresh oil for the aromatic fry · All chopped garlic and minced ginger from step 5 · All prepared chilli pieces from step 6 · 1½ tsp Sichuan peppercorns

11. 11

    Step 11: Add the diced sweet preserved radish and stir-fry with the shrimp and aromatics until softened.

    Uses All shrimp, oil and aromatics from step 10 · All rinsed and diced Chai Por from step 4

12. 12

    Step 12: Take the minced pork from the refrigerator and add it to the hot aromatic mixture with the light soy sauce (1 tbsp), Shaoxing wine, sugar (1½ tsp) and dark soy sauce (¼ tsp). Break up the mince and stir-fry until fully cooked, checking that the ground pork reaches 71°C/160°F.

    Uses All wok mixture from step 11 · All minced lean pork prepared and refrigerated at step 2 · 1 tbsp light soy sauce · 2 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine · 1½ tsp sugar · ¼ tsp dark soy sauce

13. 13

    Step 13: Return all the drained, dried beans to the fully cooked pork mixture and toss until everything is hot and evenly coated. Taste and add salt (to taste) only if needed.

    Uses All fully cooked pork, shrimp and sauce mixture from step 12 · All blanched, drained and dried beans from step 8 · Salt, to taste

14. 14

    Step 14: Transfer to a serving plate and divide into six side portions. Serve hot, with separately prepared cooked rice if desired.

    Uses All finished bean mixture from step 13 · Ready cooked rice, to serve if desired