Community Pick
Chinese Restaurant-Style Green Beans
photo by limeandspoontt
- Ready In:
- 17mins
- Ingredients:
- 10
- Serves:
-
6
ingredients
- 1 lb fresh green beans
- vegetable oil cooking spray or 2 tablespoons peanut oil
- 1 teaspoon gingerroot, peeled, minced
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1⁄2 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1⁄2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1⁄4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
directions
- Wash beans, trim ends and remove strings.
- Arrange beans in a vegetable steamer (or a colander that will sit nicely in saucepan), and place over boiling water.
- Cover and steam 5 minutes.
- Drain and plunge into cold water, drain again.
- Coat a large nonstick skillet (or wok) with cooking spray or peanut oil and heat until hot.
- Add gingerroot and garlic and saute 30 secs.
- Add beans, saute 5 minutes.
- Combine 2 tablespoons water and remaining 5 ingredients.
- Stir well.
- Add to beans, cook 30 seconds or until thoroughly heated, stirring constantly.
Reviews
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My favourite dish at the vegan restaurant near my office is their 'Spicy Garlic Green Beans' and I have clearly spent way too much time and effort trying to recreate it, since the recipe has been here for years now! To fully recreate their dish, I added a few more garlic cloves, added fried tofu slices to the skillet when I added the beans, and doubled the sauce to account for the amount that the tofu would absorb. It turned out exactly like theirs! Served it over brown rice and was a happy camper all night! Thanks so much!
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Let me join the rave reviews! This was awesome and SO easy. I could not locate my steamer so I just cooked them until barely crisp tender IN the water. The ginger at the store was not up to pare so I subbed groun ginger and had half a small onion leftover so I added that with the beans to the wok. A splash of dry sherry in the sauce ingredients (which I doubled) added a nice finish. I served these with grilled steaks and baked potatoes...a perfect spring time dinner. I could make a meal off of these alone!
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Tweaks
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Don't limit yourself to using this sauce only with green beans because it is SOOOO delicious. The first time I made it, I followed the recipe exactly as written. YUM! The second and every time since, even though the original recipe is exceptional, I did make a few small changes: I stopped measuring the ingredients. There's really no need to because you can't mess this up. Then I like, tripled the garlic and doubled the ginger. (If the thought of using ginger root in this scares you, no worries! It truly adds balance, so definitely do not skip it.) I use a very low sodium soy sauce, so I decided to cut back on the water - no more than a 1/2 splash - which gave it the ideal amount of 'salty.' I also added a teaspoon (or two) of Worcestershire sauce and I used Stevia instead of brown sugar. Lastly, I used way less than a teaspoon of cornstarch, because I like my sauce on the thinner side, especially if I'm going to have leftovers. (My personal experience with cornstarch used in this capacity has been bad - it isn't very cooperative when it comes to reheating - it gets so clumpy and gelatinous. Yuck!) Anyway, I think I love this sauce so much because it tastes exactly like the Mongolian sauce the chef at my favorite Hibachi Grill adds to my veggies. Many thanks to BoxO'Wine for sharing.
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
BoxOWine
United States
Update: My mother, BoxO'Wine passed away on April 23, 2009 after a 2 year battle with pancreatic cancer. She was a wonderful cook and is greatly missed. I am the DD that she has mentioned here quite frequently and have decided to continue her account. I also use RecipeZaar quite frequently as I learned about it from her. I strive to make her recipes; however, they will never be the same. I am also leaving all her own biographical information in here that she had.
Genuine Jersey Girl here. Lived here all my life with the exception of a short stint in the Bay Area/San Francisco. Married to the same guy for over 40 years. We have 3 children and 5 grandchildren. My son lives in Georgia (he talks funny) and my two daughters live near me in New Jersey. I am a retired politician, but I still have a real job. Looking forward to full retirement in about 2 yrs or so and if my children don't force me into the "home" I will be spending my social security checks in Atlantic City casinos. I have chemically enhanced blonde hair which is currently spiked to match my weird sense of humor and beverage du jour. Obviously I am a wino. White please, preferably chardonnay.