Sichuan Dry-Fried Green Beans and Tofu - Recipe
If you have ever ordered the dry-fried green beans at a good Chinese restaurant, you know how delicious they can be, but I bet you don’t know what is in them! For years, I wondered what all that yummy brown stuff was. I knew there was garlic and ginger, but I couldn’t imagine that there could be 1/2 cup of garlic in a plate of green beans.
It turns out the answer is Sichuan preserved vegetable, which is a pickled mustard tuber that you find canned at a good Asian grocery. It is better to buy the large-chunk style and chop it yourself; if you buy pre-shredded, you’ll want to rinse off some of the salt. The taste is somewhat like kimchi, and I find it rather addictive. On you’ll find another way to use this treasure, to make an Indian-Sichuan pickle.
I’ve added tofu and a few mushrooms to the traditional green bean dish, which makes it into a one-dish supper for two, or a hearty part of a larger dinner for four.
Don’t be scared off by the quantity of oil in this recipe, and please don’t stint on it when frying the green beans. Most of it is is drained off before the dish is completed.
Sichuan Dry-Fried Green Beans and Tofu
Vegan, optionally gluten-free / Serves 2 with rice as a meal, or 4 as part of a larger spread / 25 minutes
- 6 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
- 1 pound firm or extra firm tofu, thoroughly patted dry, cut in 3/4” cubes
- 1 pound green beans, trimmed and cut in half if long, rinsed and dried (to avoid spattering)
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms, ¼” thick
- 1/3 cup finely chopped Sichuan preserved vegetable
- 1 inch piece of fresh ginger, finely chopped or grated
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce (use a wheat-free version for gluten-free)
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
- Heat a wok or large skillet over maximum flame. Add 2 tablespoons of the oil, and when it is shimmering, add and stir-fry the tofu until golden brown, then remove.
- Add the remaining 4 tablespoons of oil and the green beans. Cook, stirring occasionally until the green beans are somewhat shriveled and developing black spots in many places. Depending on the heat of your stove, this can take from 4-10 minutes. Add the mushrooms and stir-fry for one more minute. Turn off the heat and drain the green beans in a colander, leaving about 1 tablespoon of oil in the pan.
- Return the pan to the heat. Fry the Sichuan preserved vegetable, ginger and garlic for 30 seconds, until very fragrant. Add the green beans, mushrooms and tofu back to the pan and toss with the aromatics.
- Whisk together the soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar and salt and pour over the green beans. Toss to coat, cook for 30 more seconds, and serve immediately.
