Dry-Fried Green Beans (Gan Bian Si Ji Dou)

The story

Gan bian is a technique, not a recipe: fry the vegetable in just enough oil until it blisters and concentrates. The restaurant version deep-fries; this home version gets the same wrinkled snap with a hot pan and a little patience.

Ingredients (5 + pantry staples)

• Green beans — 1 lb / 450 g, trimmed
• Ground pork — 4 oz / 115 g (optional)
• Doubanjiang (chili bean paste) — 1 tbsp
• Garlic — 3 cloves, minced
• Soy sauce — 1 tbsp

Pantry staples used (don't count toward the 6): sugar (pinch), cooking oil (3 tbsp). Not stocked yet? See the pantry page.

Steps

1. Fry the beans in 3 tbsp oil over medium-high, turning occasionally, 6–8 minutes until blistered and wrinkled; remove.
2. Pork in the same pan until browned; add doubanjiang and garlic, fry until the oil turns red.
3. Beans back in with soy sauce and sugar; toss 1 minute.

Swaps

Vegetarian: skip the pork, add chopped mushrooms with the garlic. Preserved mustard greens (ya cai) if your Asian store has them — the authentic finish.