After I found the Chinese grocery delivery app Weeee, I went on a tear to cook Asian food. My friend Teresa Mah suggested a website called TheWoksOfLife.com – and this is a recipe from them. It’s simple and quick, but full of flavor.
Pork & Marinade:
8 oz ground pork
1 T Shaoxing wine (dry sherry is an OK substitute)
1T light soy sauce
1t dark soy sauce (molasses + regular soy sauce is a decent substitute)
2T water
2T ginger, minced
1/2t sugar (skip it if you’re using sherry and it isn’t actually all that dry)
1t cornstarch
Vegetables & Sauce
2T oil
1 pound green beans, chopped into 1-inch pieces
2T garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, chopped into pieces about the same size as the green beans
1t sesame oil
1T light soy sauce
Combine the marinade ingredients and the pork, marinate for 15-20 minutes while you prep everything else.
Heat the oil over medium-high heat and add the green beans in a single layer (I used my big flat Calphalon pan). Let the beans sit still so they char, then stir occasionally to char them on all sides. Cook them for 5-8 minutes in total. Remove the beans to a dish.
Turn the heat to high (this only works in a wok or stainless steel pan) and add the marinated pork to the pan. If the pork is lean, add some oil first. If it’s “regular” ground pork, there should be enough fat in it, combined with what’s left from the beans. The directions say not to stir it much, so that it gets crispy. But not only did I find that hard to do; I’m not sure I would actually like it…
When the meat is cooked, add the garlic and bell pepper. Stir fry for a minute or two on medium. Add back the cooked green beans and the rest of the ingredients, together with 2T water and stir fry on high heat for less than a minute. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve with rice.