Here’s my third post on Sichuan beans. It’s with a different flavor, not the traditional Gan Bian Si Ji Do. This recipe came from my friend Chef Todd Pozinsky, who gave this a Korean flavor.
I like to give a variety of ways to work and expand on a basic recipe. Gan Bian Si Ji Do is regular string beans deep fried, and then re-fried again in a stir fry with ground pork and a few morsels of pickled vegetable. See my former posts on Kings Co Imperial and how to cook Gan Bian Si Ji Do.
To show the difference, here are pictures of Gan Bian Si Ji Do.
Imagine my delight when just as I was blogging on this, Todd offered his version on his menu of the week!
I guess it’s fusion when you fry and cook the beans Sichuan style, add Korean Gochujang, (chili paste) and serve it as a side for a western dish. Can’t get more fusion than that.
“That’s like the Sichuan dish,” I said to Todd. “I know,” he said. “That where I got the idea.”
So smart. And so yummy and easy. You can make it ahead and serve it at room temperature.
Like I said in my previous post, I don’t know why so few restaurants serve the beans this way. It tastes fantastic and all it takes is to deep fry regular string beans. Done at home, it greases up the kitchen. If you don’t deep fry often–and I don’t–it involves extra work. Heating a whole lot of oil, frying the beans, cooling the oil and figuring a way to dump the used oil.
Professional kitchens have it easier. They already have their deep fryers with hot oil just sitting there waiting to cook French fries, nuggets or fried fish. I’m tempted to bring my beans to Todd’s kitchen to fry them there so I don’t have to mess up mine.
Todd said he used Gochujang with sesame oil, rice vinegar and soy sauce. He also added in chopped scallions and sesame. I came up with the proportions myself. (I didn’t ask for exact amounts. Chef portions are ginormous.)
Last Friday I made it in advance for dinner for my son’s girlfriend Ali Smith and her mother, Laura. But after I had prepped all the ingredients to my other dishes–jumbo prawns, mini steaks, gailan vegetables–and even before they arrived, the electricity blacked out!
So while we were deciding which restaurant to go to since I couldn’t continue cooking, I served the Sichuan Beans With Gochujang as a starter. We ate it all up. It makes a great starter! To be ethnic I served it in my Chinese bowl and we ate it with my super cute Korean mini-forks! (My way of fusion.)
I was very impressed when Laura said, “Hey, those beans taste like the beans from Kings Co Imperial in Brooklyn.” Spot on. Glad she noticed.
Here’s the recipe. Thanks, Todd, you’re brilliant ,as always!
Sichuan Beans With Gochujang (Korean Chili Paste)
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 15-20 minutes (for frying beans)
1 pound string beans trimmed
3-4 cups vegetable oil
1 tablespoon Gochujang
2 teaspoons soy sauce
½ tablespoon rice vinegar
½ tablespoon sesame oil
2 stalks spring onions, chopped
2 teaspoons roasted sesame seeds
Trim, wash and drain string beans. Dry thoroughly with towel. Set aside.
In a small pan, heat up oil until there is movement in the oil. Stick a wooden chopstick into oil to test if oil is hot enough for frying. If bubbles form at the tip of chopstick, oil is perfect for deep frying.
Carefully add beans into oil and fry until beans are shriveled and start to look brown.
With large slotted ladle, remove beans from oil and leave on kitchen towels to drain and absorb oil. Leave until beans are completely wilted and cool.
In a small bowl combine Gochujang, soy sauce, rice vinegar and sesame oil. Add dressing to beans and mix well.
Set aside a little spring onions and sesame seed for garnish. Add remaining to beans. Mix lightly into beans. Transfer to serving dish and sprinkle with reserved garnish.
