Szechuan Dry Fried Green Beans with Black Bean + Tofu

Active Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Vegetarian

Why we love it:

Dry-Fried green beans are a Szechuan staple at many Chinese restaurants and we love getting them in our take out. This version is a nod to that and easy to pull off for a quick weeknight meal. They’re usually quite spicy but you can control the heat with the chili paste. Don’t be turned off by the term “fry”, this is really just sautéing over high heat until the beans pucker.

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Ingredients

1 cup Basmati Rice (White)
1¹⁄₂ cups Water
¹⁄₄ teaspoon Kosher Salt (+ more to taste)
1 pound Green Beans (haricots verts, or Chinese longbeans, or just regular beans)
4 cloves Garlic (minced)
1 Tablespoon Fresh Ginger (minced - about a 1” piece)
2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil (or your preferred unflavored oil)
1 package Silken Tofu
1 15-ounce can Black Beans (drained)
1 teaspoon Chili Garlic Sauce (called Sambal Olek)
2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
¹⁄₂ teaspoon Brown Sugar (or honey)
1 teaspoon Five Spice Powder
1 teaspoon White Sesame Seeds

Cooking Instructions

1. RICE

Place rice, water, and a pinch of salt in a small pot with a tight fitting lid. Bring to a boil over high heat, then stir. Reduce heat to low and cover. Set time for 16 minutes.
2. GREEN BEANS

Meanwhile, wash and dry the green beans. Trim the stem end off. If the green beans you have are longer than about 4-5 inches, you can slice them on the diagonal in half.

Mince the garlic and ginger.
3. DRY-FRY

In a large, heavy bottomed sauté pan, heat half of the oil over medium-high heat. Add the green beans, and a generous pinch of salt, then stir-fry until they start to shrivel and turn brown in spots, about 8 minutes. Keep the heat high during this time. Remove the beans to a plate, cover loosely and set aside.
4. TOFU + BEANS

In the same pan, heat the rest of the oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, ginger, and drained silken tofu.

Use a wooden spoon to break up the tofu and cook until its warmed through, about 4 minutes.

Add the drained black beans, chili paste, soy sauce, sugar, salt, and 5 spice. Stir everything together, and bring to a simmer. If desired you could add more chili paste to make it spicier or more salt as needed.
5. SERVING

When the rice is done, turn off the heat but it can stay covered until ready to serve.
Place a flat mound of rice in each plate and top with green beans in an even layer. Spoon the tofu and bean sauté over the top so the beans pick up some of the sauce too. Garnish with sesame seeds.

*If too much time had passed and the beans become completely cold, you could reheat them in the pan. But, covered on the side, they should remain warm enough and don’t have to be piping hot on the plate.

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Substitutions

GLUTEN FREE:

be sure and use tamari
5 SPICE POWDER:

if you can’t find it, use 1 tablespoon of hoisin sauce and cut the soy sauce in half
PALEO:

omit rice or serve over cauliflower rice. Omit black beans and consider doubling the meat and green beans.
TOFU:

soft tofu easily crumbles and makes a delicious sauce. You could omit it and use cauliflower rice to get a similar look. If omitting, consider doubling the green beans or the black beans. If you only like firm tofu, you can sear some cubes of it to mix in with the black beans
WHITE RICE:

brown rice, quinoa, or noodles all make a nice base. You could serve without rice if you prefer