Chinese Stir Fry Green Beans

So easy, I didn’t even need to ask Mom for the recipe

It has been a hot minute since posting, but life has been busy—mostly because I’ve picked up ceramic arts which has taken up most of my free time. I did it because I want to be able to create the physical dishes that I present my food on, to be able to say that every bit of what I made is handmade. Needless to say, I got a little sidetracked with that goal as ceramics proves difficult to master—my instructor said it takes three to four years to be considered good, so I have some time I need to put under my belt.

But that doesn’t mean I’ve put my cooking to the side, in fact, quite the opposite. I’m still testing and trying out family recipes, but haven’t documented it. Partly because I don’t have time, but partly because not all of it has a great meaningful story. But maybe that’s okay. The story is that it’s a simple dish that takes very little time for very big flavor. That’s how the vegetable dishes always worked in the Phan household. And if there are any parents out there reading this post…I grew up LOVING vegetables. I never understood why other kids didn’t love their veggies. Mom would tell me we were having green beans for dinner and I would jump for joy, I couldn’t get enough.

So if you need to convince your kids that veggies are yummy or if you just want a simple side dish to go with your entree, then try out our Chinese stir fry green beans. You’ll want to add it to your weekly rotation it’s so easy.

Prep: 15 mins | Cook: 10 mins

INGREDIENTS (FOR 2-3)

  
lb green beans  
  
garlic cloves
  
tbsp soy sauce*
  
tbsp oyster sauce
  
tspn chili oil
  
    + oil for pan

*It’s more of a rough guideline, you can adjust based on your saltiness preference. The only thing to remember is that it should be equal parts soy and oyster sauce.

PREPARE

1. Trim off the ends of the beans. I grew up trimming off both ends, but the important thing is to remove the stems. When we are doing this, we also like to snap the beans into halves or thirds because it makes it easier to eat with chopsticks. This method is entirely optional and I do it about 50% of the time. Wash beans throughly.

2. Roughly chop the garlic.

COOK

1. Warm up the pan on medium-high heat, add the oil and wait so that it just starts to shimmer.

2. Add about half the garlic, you should hear a nice strong sizzle when you do so—that’s how you know the oil is ready, if there’s no sizzle sound then it’s not hot enough, so then wait for the garlic to start sizzling.

3. Carefully add the green beans, watching out for any oil splatter. Using chopsticks, stir the beans around so that it’s coated in the oil. Give the pan a nice strong flick every few minutes or so—that helps the beans cook more evenly.

4. After about five to eight minutes, the beans should be bright green and completely covered in oil. Add in the soy sauce, oyster sauce, and the rest of the garlic. The sizzle sound will be strong. Stir aggressively so that the soy sauce doesn’t stick to the pan and burn. After a few more minutes you can turn off the stove, and stir in the chili oil.

EAT

Stir fry green beans are meant to be a side dish. Try pairing it with ma po tofu or Chinese beef and potatoes. You can’t go wrong with a side of good ol’ Chinese stir fry green beans