This is a quick and easy recipe that really needs no introduction. It’s just what the title implies: green beans flavored with ground pork.

Green beans with ground pork

You can use any kind of beans. I used thin green haricots verts, which are pictured above. Chinese long beans (长豆角, zhǎng dòujiǎo) are also ideal for this dish; they have a more pronounced “bean” flavor and a softer texture than Western green beans.

Shopping for beans in the daily open air farmers’ market last November in Changping

The seasonings are simple, and yet they give the pork and the beans a complex and savory flavor.

INGREDIENTS and PREP:

1. 2-3 Tbsp ground pork
2. 1/2 lb Chinese long beans (长豆角, zhǎng dòujiǎo), French haricots verts, or regular Western green beans, cut into 2″ lengths
3. 1-2 tsp Lao Gan Ma spicy black bean chili oil (老干妈黑豆辣椒油, lǎogànmā hēi dòu làjiāo yóu)
4. 2Tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp Shaoxing rice wine

DIRECTIONS:

• Heat your wok until barely smoking. Then add 1 Tbsp peanut oil and swirl it around. Then add the ground pork (#1) and stir-fry until cooked through, about 30-60 seconds.
• Add the cut beans (#2), and stir fry for a good 5 minutes or so, until the beans are cooked and just beginning to blister. While the beans are cooking, the pork will turn darker and will start to become crispy.
• Add the Lao Gan Ma chili oil (#3) and stir for about 20 more seconds.
• Then add the soy sauce and wine (#4) and stir until everything is warmed through.

VARIATIONS: Omit the pork or substitute textured vegetable protein to make a vegan dish. Experiment with various types of green beans, as described above. Add 2 tsp chopped green chiles with the beans in step #2. Add 1 tsp ground roasted Sichuan peppers to the chile oil (#3).