Kan Shao Green Beans
A particular style of cooking from sichuan, kan shao means "Dry-cooked" — in other words using no stock or water. The slim green beans available all the year round from supermarkets are ideal for use in this quick and tasty recipe.
Ingredients
- 175ml / 6fl oz / ¾ cup sunflower oil
- 450g / 1lb fresh green beans, topped, tailed and cut in half
- 5 x 1cm / 2 x ½in piece fresh root ginger, peeled and cut into matchsticks
- 5ml / 1 tsp sugar
- 10ml / 2 tsp light soy sauce
- salt and ground black pepper
Preparation
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- Heat the oil in a wok. When the oil is just beginning to smoke, carefully add the beans and stir-fry them for 1-2 minutes until just tender.
- Lift out the green beans on to a plate lined with kitchen paper. Using a ladle carefully remove all but 30ml / 2 tbsp oil from the wok.
- Reheat the remaining oil, add the ginger and stir-fry for a minute or two to flavour the oil.
- Return the green beans to the wok, stir in the sugar, soy sauce and salt and pepper, and toss together quickly to ensure the beans are well coated. Serve the beans at once.
VARIATION
This simple recipe works just as well with other fresh green vegetables such as baby asparagus spears and okra.
Serves 6.