Sichuan green beans are stir-fried over high heat so they're still crisp, but charred. Then ground turkey and spices are added for a nice kick of heat.
I love Chinese food. I like it all, including Westernized dishes, and more traditional Chinese food.
I love eating it at restaurants, and I love experimenting with cooking it at home.
The problem with cooking it at home is that sometimes it can be hard to find authentic ingredients. I find this especially true now that I live in a smaller city with a smaller Asian population.
There are a few small Asian markets around, but they are definitely not the Asian super-stores that I am used to at home.
The good news about these Spicy Sichuan Green Beans is that the ingredients are readily available. In fact, you should be able to find most of the ingredients in any old grocery store.
Only a couple of them might require a trip to an Asian market, but a large, well-stocked grocery store with an International aisle will likely carry them too.
This recipe centers around green beans. A whole pound of them. Trim the ends off before throwing them in the pan.
Ground turkey adds protein without adding a ton of extra fat. Ground pork can also be used. But I don't find it makes a huge flavor difference, and turkey is what I usually have on hand.
The other ingredients are where the flavor comes from. You've got your standard garlic, ginger, and scallions.
Also, a few sauces and spices that are not pictured: soy sauce, sugar, white pepper, chili flakes, and mustard powder. Some cornstarch for thickening.
The ones that you might have a tiny bit of trouble finding are Shaoxing cooking wine and sesame oil. Again, most well-stocked grocery stores should have these. If not, you can use dry sherry in place of the cooking wine. There really is no substitute for sesame oil, so let's hope your store has it.
How to make Spicy Sichuan Green Beans:
The beans are stir-fried in a HOT wok or skillet. Warning: it's about to get smoky in here! Think of it as a great way to test your smoke detector. You want the beans to get nice and blackened on the outside, but still, be crisp...
Like this. Move them to a plate and let them hang out while you cook up the meat and the sauce (which only takes a couple of minutes).
The whole dish takes at the very most, 15 minutes to cook and that includes time for the pan to heat up. So before you start, make sure you start cooking some rice or noodles to serve these delicious morsels of spicy beany goodness over.
Spicy Sichuan Green Beans Ingredients:
- Water: use whatever water you normally drink. Tap water is fine here.
- Low sodium soy sauce: Use Tamari if you want this recipe to be Gluten-Free
- Shaoxing cooking wine: This might also be called Chinese cooking wine. Find it in the International aisle of a well-stocked grocery store, otherwise it's available in Asian markets
- Granulated sugar
- Cornstarch
- White pepper
- Red chile flakes: Use more if you like your food spicy
- Dry mustard powder
- Canola oil or other neutral-flavored oil
- Green beans
- Ground turkey: You could also use ground pork. To make a vegan version, consider using crumbled tofu.
- Garlic
- Grated fresh ginger: Pro-tip - keep your ginger in the freezer, and grate from frozen to ensure you always have ginger on hand.
- Scallions
- Sesame oil: This should be available in any well-stocked grocery store, either in the aisle with the other oils, or in the International aisle.
Want more vegetable recipes?
Spicy Sichuan Green Beans Nutrition Notes:
Serve with white or brown rice to make a complete meal.
To make a vegan version of this dish, try using crumbled tofu in place of the ground turkey.
Spicy Sichuan Green Beans
Equipment
Ingredients
Instructions
- Stir together 2 Tablespoons water, 2 Tablespoons low sodium soy sauce, 1 Tablespoon Shaoxing cooking wine, 1 teaspoon granulated sugar, ½ teaspoon cornstarch, ¼ teaspoon white pepper, ¼ teaspoon red chile flakes, and ¼ teaspoon dry mustard powder together in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Heat 2 Tablespoons canola oil over high heat in a 12" non-stick or cast iron skillet or wok until just smoking. Add the trimmed green beans. Cook, stirring often until beans are spotty black but still crisp, 5-8 minutes. If beans are burning, turn the heat down to medium-high. Transfer beans to a large plate.
- Reduce heat to medium-high. Add ½ pound ground turkey to skillet, breaking the meat apart with a spoon, and cook until no longer pink, 2 minutes. Add the minced garlic and grated ginger and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds. Stir sauce again, then add it to the skillet, stirring constantly until slightly thickened, 30 seconds. Remove pan from heat. Stir in the green beans, sliced scallions, and 1 teaspoon sesame oil. Serve over noodles or rice.
Nutrition
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Anna says
looks delish! i always use pork mince, but dan complains about the fattiness of it, even though it never bothers me, but turkey is a great idea.
Carissa says
Try turkey! It works really well. I definitely don't notice much of a difference at all. PS. Our husbands must be polar opposites, mine usually only complains when something is not fatty enough (like when I use turkey instead of pork).