Green Beans with Fermented Black Beans & Pork Sauce

This is the kind of dish that takes you straight into a Sichuan home kitchen, where fermented black beans do the heavy flavor lifting and long beans get tossed just long enough to keep their snap. Mashing the rinsed fermented beans with garlic and ginger first is critical, it makes a fragrant paste that coats the pork evenly instead of clumping in pockets.

Rinse the beans briefly before mashing to knock down some of the heavy salt so the dish doesn’t overpower.

Blanching the green beans (ideally Chinese long beans, but regular green beans work fine) before they hit the wok is what keeps them bright and snappy in the finished dish. Raw green beans thrown straight into a hot wok take too long to tenderize, and they soak up sauce unevenly.

Cook the ground pork properly before the other elements go in. Stirring occasionally (not constantly) over medium-high heat lets it develop browned bits on the bottom of the wok, which is where most of the flavor lives in a stir-fry.

The cornstarch slurry at the end thickens everything into a glossy sauce that clings to the beans.

Serve over steamed rice with extra soy sauce at the table.

Pro Tips

• Rinse the fermented black beans briefly to reduce their intense salt, but don’t soak them or you’ll lose the funk
• Use a carbon steel wok or a heavy skillet that holds heat well, thin pans cool down the moment food hits them
• Mix the cornstarch slurry just before adding, cornstarch settles fast and clumps if pre-mixed too early
• Taste before adding extra salt, fermented beans and soy sauce make this dish plenty seasoned already

Variations

• Swap ground pork for ground chicken or crumbled firm tofu for different proteins
• Add a teaspoon of chili garlic sauce for heat and a Sichuan kick
• Garnish with sliced scallions and toasted sesame seeds at the table