I can honestly say that this is my favorite Sichuan dish, second only to MaPo Tofu. I’ve eaten it many times, but had never made it. Well, that has changed. This was really incredible.
I found so many different recipes, but sort of merged a Fuchsia Dunlop recipe and a Wok of Life recipe to create this vegetarian version, which replaces the standard ground pork with Shiitake mushrooms. I’m very happy with how it turned out.
And this recipe can easily be made using ground pork, which is more traditional in the Sichuan area of China.
Ingredients:
1 pound Green Beans, trimmed.
1 cup Vegetable Oil
1 Tbsp Ginger, minced
3 cloves Garlic, minced
1 tsp Sichuan Peppercorns, crushed
2 Tien Tsin Chilis, crushed
2 ounces dried Shiitake Mushrooms, soaked in hot water and chopped.
1 Tbsp Shaoxing wine
1 Tbsp light soy sauce
1/2 Tbsp dark soy sauce
1 drop of Liquid Smoke
1/4 teaspoon sugar
Dash of Toasted Sesame Oil
Ya cai is mustard root that has been heavily salted and preserved with a number of spicy aromatics. If you can find it, it really makes a big difference in flavor. A good source is the Mala Market.
You will want to prepare everything up front, because the cooking time is very quick.
Preparation:
Start your wok and pour your oil in the wok. Once it is up to temperature, add your green beans and cook them for 6 to 7 minutes until they are blistered and softened.
Set them aside to drain in a colander over a pan. Then drain all of the oil off of the wok except for about 1 tablespoon. Then add your garlic, ginger, shiitake mushrooms, sauté for 1 minute and then add your Szechuan peppercorns and chilies and stir fry them gently on low heat.
Then bring the heat up to high, add in the green beans, and the sauce mixture and stir fry for about one minute Serve with rice and enjoy.
Note: If you want to avoid deep frying, you can make a healthier version by adding the green beans directly to a hot wok with a pinch of salt and stir frying them for 15-20 minutes until they are blistered.
- 1 pound Green Beans trimmed.
- 1 cup Vegetable Oil
- 1 Tbsp Ginger minced
- 3 cloves Garlic minced
- 1 tsp Sichuan Peppercorns crushed
- 2 Tien Tsin Chilis crushed
- 2 ounces dried Shiitake Mushrooms soaked in hot water and chopped.
- 1 Tbsp Shaoxing wine
- 1 Tbsp light soy sauce
- 1/2 Tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1 drop of Liquid Smoke
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- Dash of Toasted Sesame Oil
Start your wok and pour your oil in the wok. Once it is up to temperature, add your green beans and cook them for 6 to 7 minutes until they are blistered and softened.
Set them aside to drain in a colander over a pan. Then drain all of the oil off of the wok except for about 1 tablespoon. Then add your garlic, ginger, shiitake mushrooms, sauté for 1 minute and then add your Szechuan peppercorns and chilies and stir fry them gently on low heat.
Then bring the heat up to high, add in the green beans, and the sauce mixture and stir fry for about one minute Serve with rice and enjoy.
