Stir-fried Green Beans with Minced Pork (乾扁四季豆)

This stir-fried green beans with minced pork dish is very popular and you can easily find it on the menu of every Chinese restaurant. But they might have different versions, whether it’s stir fried with pork mince or just omit the pork as a vegan dish. It goes really well with steamed rice.

Green beans (四季豆) are so good to have in every meal. It also can be used in any cuisine. In Chinese cooking, my daughter likes it briefly fried in hot oil in order to enhance its natural sweetness, then stir fried with ground pork, blended with some hot spices and sauces.

Add a bit of XO Sauce. It makes a big difference for the whole dish.

XO Sauce

Stir-fried Green Beans with Minced Pork Recipe

(Printable recipe)
By Christine’s Recipes
Course: Stir Fry
Cuisine: Chinese
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 15 mins
Yield: 2 to 3 serves

Ingredients:

• 350 gm green beans, trimmed
• 100 gm ground pork/pork mince
• 1 stalk salted mustard greens (雪菜 homemade or canned)
• ½ tsp garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp ground bean sauce
• 1 tsp chili bean sauce
• 1 tsp XO sauce, or to taste

Marinade:

• 2 tsp light soy sauce
• ½ tsp sugar
• ½ tsp cornflour
• 1 Tbsp water
• pepper, to taste

Seasonings:

• 1/3 tsp salt
• sugar, to taste

Method:

1. Soak salted mustard greens for about 20 minutes. Rinse and drain well. Squeeze out excess water. Roughly chopped. Set aside.
2. Mix ground pork with marinade and set aside for 15 minutes.
3. Heat a small amount of oil in a pan to 180C (356F). The oil barely covers the green beans. Briefly fry the green beans in batches until softened. Drain out with a slotted spoon and place on kitchen papers to absorb excess oil.
4. Remove oil and reserve about 1 tablespoon of oil in the pan. Toss in the pork and stir fry until cooked thoroughly. Set aside.
5. Add some oil, sauté garlic until aromatic. Add mustard greens and a small amount of sugar to taste and quickly stir fry. Toss in the pork and green beans. Add ground bean sauce and chili sauce. Add a few teaspoons of boiling water if you find it too dry due to the high heat of stir frying. Sprinkle wine. Season with salt if necessary. Lastly, add XO sauce. Dish up and served hot.

Notes:

• Wipe green beans dry thoroughly with kitchen papers before putting in hot oil. Beware that the hot oil would splash if there’s any water dropping in. The sweetness of green beans will enhance after frying. Yet, don’t fry them too long. When you spot some “wrinkles” appearing on the outside, drain out the beans quickly. The heat inside will continue to cook.
• You can reuse the oil to stir fry other vegetables or cook other ingredients as the oil would be very clean.
• If you want the pork to keep moist even after stir frying, add 2 to 3 teaspoons of water into the ground pork when marinated.