Here’s a very tasty dish that is typical Chinese home cooking. I thought I’d share this because like all home cooking recipes, this follows a basic meat and veggie stir fry technique. We frequently tweak and swap out ingredients to make a completely different dish, with a different taste.
Sure, home cooks may create our own combinations, but typically traditional home cooks make recognized home food dishes. This is one of them.
We don’t really have names for these recipes–they are generically described as “meat fried with vegetables.” That’s why at a Chinese no-frills restaurant, the items on the menu sound more like a description of the dish, like in this case, it’s Stir Fried String Bean with Pork, Pickled Vegetable and Bean Thread Noodle.
At our dinner table, for a family of four, we might have three stir-fried dishes, and maybe soup. The portion in each dish need not be big; it could be as small as a one cup serving. What we lack in bulk, we make up in variety. I think I might blog on what a traditional home meal looks like.
Compare this recipe with Stir Fried Hairy Melon With Pork and Bean Thread Noodles. Both use the same stir fry technique. Both have pork and bean thread noodles. One has hairy melon; this one uses string beans. They also use about the same seasoning.
The difference is the pickled vegetable–zha cai–which gives it its distinct, sour and salty, crunchy taste. This makes the two dishes completely different. For more on zha cai, click here.
Also, I wanted a little sauce (not swimming in sauce, yikes) to this dish so the recipe includes a cornstarch thickener. I’ll write a separate post on the basics of Thickening Sauce.
You can make this dinner in less than 30 minutes…while waiting for rice to cook. There is enough here for two people if you only prepare this one dish. If you add two or three other dishes, it would serve four to six people.
Stir Fried String Bean with Pork, Pickled Vegetable and Bean Thread Noodle
Makes 2-4 servings
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 8-10 minutes
4-6 ounces pork, cut into strips
4-6 ounces string beans, trimmed
2 tablespoons oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 packet (3.5 ounce) pickled vegetable, zha cai
1 small bunch bean thread noodles, soaked in water till softened
Marinade for pork
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Dash of pepper
¼ teaspoon cornstarch
Seasoning sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
½ cup chicken stock (or water)
Cornstarch thickener
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons water
In a bowl add pork, soy sauce, pepper and cornstarch and mix well. Set aside.
Fill a wok or deep frying pan with about 2-3 quarts of water and bring to a boil. Add string beans and blanch for about 2 minutes. Drain in colander, cool under running water for a few seconds and set aside to drain.
While water is being boiled, prepare seasoning sauce and cornstarch thickener. In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, oyster sauce and chicken stock or water. In another small bowl, stir cornstarch and water. Set these aside.
Return pan to stove top and heat pan on high until hot. Add half the oil and heat until oil is shimmering. Fry pork quickly and when pork changes color, scoop up pork and return to bowl. Set aside.
Return pan to heat. Add remaining oil and heat till oil is shimmering, add garlic and string beans and fry for 1 minute. Add pork, bean thread noodles and pickled vegetable and fry to combine.
Add seasoning sauce and bring it to a boil. As soon as it boils, dribble the cornstarch thickener over the meat and vegetables a little at a time, stirring to combine it into the boiling sauce. As soon as it thickens, stop adding the thickener, and remove pan from heat. Serve hot.
NOTES
I’ve just given a rough estimate of the portions of the different ingredients. Typically we prefer to keep the portions small (4-6 ounces for meat and beans). If you use more pork or more vegetable, you could end up with a huge dish, enough for a buffet! Even in Chinese banquets for a table of 10, a dish typically has only enough food to offer each diner maybe three or four spoonfuls.
One small bunch of bean thread noodle? For more on Bean Thread Noodles, click here. These noodles come in small bunches and even one of their bunches is too much for this recipe. Pull it apart and use half of the bunch. I want this dish to be mainly about the string beans and the meat with a little noodle and the pickled vegetable. Too much noodle will shift the attention on the noodle.
