Every year at this time I think your forsythia must be way ahead of mine, but then I look out the window and sure enough they're in full bloom. My veggies should be arriving today; looking forward to trying a new ingredient. Looks good!

Wow...pretty...deconstructed dry-fry:). Will have to get DH ti make it this weekend.c

Here is the recipe from Land of Plenty:

DRY-FRIED GREEN BEANS I
gan bian si ji dou

This is one of Sichuan's most famous vegetable dishes. The green beans are traditionally dry-fried over a medium heat until they are tender and slightly wrinkled... If you want to minimize the oiliness, you can steam them or boil the beans to cook them through instead of frying them, and then follow the rest of the recipe (from step 3) according to the instructions given below. This method is not authentic, but the results are delicious, particularly for the vegetarian version of the dish.

Serves 4 with three other dishes

10 ounces green beans
peanut oil
3 ounces ground pork (about 2/3 cup)
2 tsp Shaoxing rice wine or medium-dry sherry
2 tsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp Sichuanese ya cai or Tianjin preserved vegetable, finely chopped
salt to taste
1 tsp 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 tbsp 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 degrees F until they are tender and puckered.)

3. Heat another 2 Tbsp 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 rice wine and the soy sauce as you go.

4. Add the ya cai or Tiajin preserved vegetable and stir-fry briefly until hot, the 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.

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I haven't made it yet, but it's only my list for when I find green beans. I will substitute ground turkey for the pork.

Lars

Thanks FOAS and Trailrunner.

Lars, I think steaming or boiling the beans will not be the same.

I think the concept of this dish is very clever. The reason for deep frying the beans, I believe is to cook the bean at the highest temperature without air because the oil coating on the beans. As a result, the beans can remain very green and get cooked to very tender.

Steaming or boiling makes the beans yellowish.

The way I have done mine was to use more oil than normal to stir fry so that the beans were well coated.

If you don't like all the oil, you can wash off the oil after the frying.

Also, be careful with the preserved vegetable. It is extremely salty. I wash them off with boiling water first.

dcarch

I thought I was going to see something very different, but now I'm just confused. Why is it called "dry" fry when you use oil? I would just call that stir fry as in the instructions (#2). Is there such a thing as a wet fry be then?

I don't quite get that either Donna.

My veggies just arrived. Interesting. Serving size is one can. I don't think so! I can't imagine these being more than an ingredient. I'll rinse.

From the youtube videos, "Dry" I take it to mean only oil is used, no water or liquid in making the beans tender.

dcarch

But I never "fry" with water, so it just seems like a strange phrase.

It's not unusual for Chinese dishes to be steamed in a covered wok following stir frying. These beans are fried only, thus dry fried. That's my theory anyway. :-)

This is indeed a classic dish -- a very suitable accompaniment for many other dishes.

Jim

This post was edited by jimster on Thu, Apr 18, 13 at 16:46

You can use young green beans but most asian recipe call for long beans. I have grown asparagus beans or yard long beans as they are commonly called. They are a climbing bean with not as many leaves as most climbing beans so makes them easier to pick. Beans can get about 18 inchs long when ready to pick. I first pick up{{gwi:807}} a package of seed it was one of those cheap ones 5/$1.00 thought I would give them a try. They don't give me enough to freeze a lot of them but are best fresh. At Farmers Market If I would give samples of them raw, people would buy them and they were hooked. They have a very nutty flavor and very in taste a little between varieties. I Dry fry them till they wilt down with garlic and a few hot pepper flakes and dress them with oyster sauce. If you want to hurry them up you can blanch them first or add a little water after you add sauce, cover pan they will steam quickly. I prefer the latter I still get that fry taste and sauce covers better. If you have any Q. about growing these beans I would be happy to answer them. Patty

This post was edited by PattyPeterson2208 on Mon, Apr 22, 13 at 10:32

Dry-cook, or dry-fried is a special cooking technique, typically used to cook beans.

It occurred to me that it also works well with asparagus.

dcarch

Dry-cooked asparagus with braised squid.

This post was edited by dcarch on Mon, Apr 22, 13 at 23:24