This page may contain affiliate links. I receive a small commission at no cost to you when you make a purchase using my link. This post is about the Sichuan dish called Chinese Long Beans With Pork!
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- 1,000 FOODS TO EAT PROJECT
- What Are Chinese Long Beans?
- A Little Bit About The Sichuan Style of Cooking
- What Ingredients Do We Need To Make Chinese Long Beans With Pork?
- The Method To Make Chinese Long Beans With Pork
- Enjoy Chinese Long Beans With Pork Served With Rice!
- Some Other Dishes You May Enjoy!
- Delicious Chinese Long Beans With Pork!
1,000 FOODS TO EAT PROJECT
I am working my way through the foods that are listed in the book 1,000 Foods to Eat Before You Die by Mimi Sheraton. This is called my 1,000 Foods to Eat Project. This Sichuan dish called Chinese Long Beans With Pork is food #50 in my Project!
In this book, the author Mimi Sheraton lists her choice for the 1,000 Foods of the World that you MUST try. Chinese Long Beans With Pork (aka Sijidou Chao Rousi in the book) definitely belongs on everyone's table it is absolutely delicious!
What Are Chinese Long Beans?
The Chinese long bean is a variety of the cowpea, has long and slender pods, and is similar to the green bean. The Chinese long bean is also known as snake bean, asparagus bean, and yardlong bean. Wikipedia has an interesting article about the Chinese Long Bean which discusses its cultivation, nutrition, and its uses in various cuisines around the world.
The ones I bought from my local Asian market (pictured above) were around 1.5 ft long. So we can appreciate how aptly named this legume is!
I have used this before in a Filipino soup called Sinigang where I added the beans to the soup and they cooked in the soup. Here, we will make use of the Chinese Long Bean in a very different way! Chinese Long Beans With Pork is a Sichuan dish that requires stir frying the long beans until they are a bit charred. This way of preparing them brings out so much flavor in the long beans, and the texture is also out of this world!
A Little Bit About The Sichuan Style of Cooking
Sichuan cuisine is characterized by having very big and bold flavors. There can be quite a liberal use of garlic, dried chilies, and Sichuan pepper.
I use Sichuan peppercorn in this dish. My first experience with this peppercorn was not the most pleasant. I decided I would eat one peppercorn to see what it tasted like. The peppercorn got stuck in one of my teeth, and there was this incredibly tingly feeling that I endured whilst trying to get the peppercorn out. It was an unforgettable experience!
This spice contains the molecule hydroxy-alpha-sanshool. This molecule interacts with nerve cell receptors in your mouth and lips which results in the numbing and tingling sensation you get from eating these peppercorns. Pretty cool!
What is Mala?
Mala is a term used to describe many Sichuan dishes. It is the combination of two different types of spicy. One is what we normally think of as spicy...the type caused by capsaicin in chili peppers. This is the "la" part of mala. The "ma" part refers to the tingly and numbing effect of the Sichuan peppercorns.
This recipe goes easy on the Sichuan pepper AND the chilies. So it is not overwhelmingly spicy or tingly. 🙂 However, if you love the mala taste and experience by all means feel free to add more Sichuan peppercorn and chilies to your taste!
What Ingredients Do We Need To Make Chinese Long Beans With Pork?
The list of ingredients that you will need to assemble to make this spectacular dish is short! Here is what you will need:
- Ground pork
- Chinese Long Beans (we will cut them into 2"-3" pieces)
- Dark Soy Sauce (you can also use regular soy sauce)
- Shaoxing Rice Wine
- Sugar
- Sichuan peppercorn
- Peanut oil
- Ginger
- Garlic
- Dried Asian chilies
I have linked to Amazon for some of these items for convenience. You should also be able to find these items at your Asian market.
Let's get ready to make this awesome dish!
The Method To Make Chinese Long Beans With Pork
It's super easy to make this Sichuan speciality! There are a couple of things to bear in mind which make this a standout dish.
First thing to keep in mind is that you want to cook the long beans until they are charred and blistered, as pictured above. This requires you to cook them on quite a high heat, and I recommend using a cast iron pan to do this. You can also use a very hot wok.
The second thing to keep in mind is that you should cook the pork until it is slightly crispy. The beans and the pork will be cooked separately, and will be combined at the end.
The Sichuan peppercorn should be ground up. You can do this in a coffee grinder or with a mortar and pestle. You can decide if you would like the peppercorns finely ground or a bit more coarse, as on the left.
Remove the green beans to a plate once they are cooked. Then after the pork is cooked to your desired level of crispiness, you will add the garlic, ginger, and ground Sichuan peppercorn to the pork and stir to combine.
The last step is to add a sauce combination of sugar, dark or regular soy sauce, and Shaoxing wine to the pork mixture, along with the charred long beans and dried chilies. Combine this and get ready to feast in a matter of minutes!
Enjoy Chinese Long Beans With Pork Served With Rice!
This fantastic dish is best served with rice! I have intended this dish to be a main course, however, you could also serve it as a side dish.
The level of mala taste is completely up to you! The recipe keeps the level of spiciness and tinglyness (not sure if that is a word 🙂) to a tolerable level for most people. However, feel free to add more Sichuan peppercorn and/or dried Asian chilies to your liking.
If you are like me, you won't be able to wait to delve further into Sichuan food and cooking!
chī hǎo hē hǎo” 吃好喝好 which means "Enjoy Your Meal" in Chinese!
Some Other Dishes You May Enjoy!
The One and Only Hot and Numbing Chengdu Chicken!
Amazing Soba! 1,000 Foods To Eat Project
If you’d like to come along on this food journey with me, please sign up to get the latest recipes and inspiration for you to expand your food comfort zone! It’s an incredible journey, please join me by signing up here.
Cheers!
Grace
Delicious Chinese Long Beans With Pork!
Equipment
- Cast iron pan or wok
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon peanut oil split
- 1 lb ground pork
- ½ lb Chinese long beans cut into 2"-3" pieces
- 2 tablespoon dark soy sauce can sub regular soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine
- 1 ts sugar
- 1.5 ts Sichuan peppercorns ground in a coffee grounder or using mortar and pestle; use more if you love mala!
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 inch ginger peeled and minced
- 5-6 Asian dried chilies leave whole for less spicy, break up for more spicy; use more if you love spicy!
Instructions
- Make the sauce by combining the dark soy sauce (or regular soy sauce), Shaoxing Rice Wine, and sugar in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Heat up 1 tablespoon of peanut oil in a cast iron pan or wok on high heat. Once heated, add the cut up Chinese long beans trying to not crowd them. Every so often (around 15-30 seconds or so) toss them around then let them set again for a few seconds and toss around again. You are aiming to char and blister the beans. Once they are cooked (around 8 minutes or so) remove them to a separate plate.
- Reduce the temp to medium high, and then add the 2nd tablespoon of peanut oil. Add the pork, break it up, and cook until it turns a bit crispy. This should take around 8-10 minutes, and you want to keep turning and stirring the pork during this process.
- Now add the garlic, ginger, and ground up Sichuan peppercorn. Stir constantly around 1-2 minutes to combine.
- Last but not least, add your sauce (mix it again just before adding), and dried Asian chilies. Then add the Chinese long beans, and stir everything to combine. Keep stirring for around 1 minute until the dish is nice and hot!
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