Beef (or Chicken) with String Beans

Another incredibly yummy dish from The Woks Of Life. And now that I’ve got a pantry stocked with Chinese essentials, it comes together pretty easily.

The most time consuming parts are slicing your steak and prepping your green beans. But even those don’t take that long. LOL

Chicken with Green Beans is almost the same, except without the oyster sauce.

FOR THE BEEF (or chicken) & MARDINADE:
1 lb flank steak, partially frozen (to make slicing easier)
3T water
1-1/2 t cornstarch
1-1/2t vegetable oil (use 1/2t sesame oil for chicken)
1t oyster sauce (use soy sauce if doing chicken)

FOR THE SAUCE:
1/2c chicken stock
1-1/2 t sugar
1-1/2 T light soy sauce (reduce to 1T for chicken)
1t dark soy sauce (increase to 2t for chicken)
1T oyster sauce (SKIP if doing chicken)
1/4t sesame oil
pinch of white pepper
2t cornstarch

FOR THE REST OF THE DISH:
1lb string beans, trimmed & cut in half
3T vegetable oil
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1T shaoxing wine

After you slice your steak, stir it into a bowl with the water so the water is absorbed. (This is what makes the meat tender!) Stir in the cornstarch, oil and oyster sauce then let marinate 30 minutes (or even overnight).

Make your sauce and set it aside; trim your grim beans; mince the garlic & put it in a little dish; stir the cornstarch into water to make a slurry.

When you’re ready to cook, line up everything on your counter in the order it’s going to go in the pan:

  • 2T oil, in a little dish
  • raw meat
  • string beans (with the bottle of oil nearby, in case you need a little more)
  • minced garlic
  • Shaoxing wine, in a little dish
  • sauce
  • cornstarch slurry
  • cooked beef (put it at the end of the line, after you take it out of the pan after cooking it)

Then it’s standard Chinese procedure:

HIGH HEAT:
cook the meat, about 2 minutes. Don’t overcrowd the pan; make in 2 batches if you have to. Remove to a separate dish.

MEDIUM HEAT:
green beans, about 6-8 minutes (unless you decide to steam them, which is faster)
Garlic, 30 seconds

HIGH HEAT:
Wine around the perimeter, 20 seconds.
Sauce (deglaze the pan with it); bring to a simmer.
Cornstarch slurry, to thicken your sauce. When it’s the consistency you like it —
Add the beef back in, 20 seconds to combine.

Serve over rice!!

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