Instead of leaning on a sauce, “dry” stir-fries like this recipe use a small amount of liquid (in this case, fish sauce), relying on heat and movement in the wok to intensify each ingredient’s flavors. To ensure that the beans blister, dry them thoroughly with a kitchen towel before cooking. Pickled sushi ginger adds mild, well-balanced sweetness and a hint of spice.
Where we took fault with this recipe as written, were the quantities. There is no way only 6 shrimp and the remaining ingredients would serve four adult portions, no way! So we doubled the shrimp from 6 to 12, and that amplified the volume enough for two decent servings. Those changes are noted in the recipe below.
Since this sauce-less dry-fry wouldn’t necessarily require a bed of rice, we opted for pan-fried dumplings. Trader Joe’s has a nice selection and we just happen to have some in our freezer. Russ whipped up a simple, yet tasty, dumpling dipping sauce (recipe below), and dinner done!
Dry-Fried Sichuan-Style Green Beans with Shrimp
Ingredients
- 8 oz. peeled and deveined raw large shrimp (about 12 shrimp)
- 2 Tbsp. peanut oil or vegetable oil, divided
- 12 oz. green beans, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces (about 3 cups)
- ¼ tsp. kosher salt
- 1 Tbsp. minced garlic
- ¼ cup thinly sliced scallions
- 1Tbsp. fish sauce
- 1 Tbsp. yellow pickled ginger, minced
- ¼ tsp. granulated sugar
Directions
- Pat shrimp dry using paper towels. Chop shrimp into 1/2-inch pieces; set aside.
- Heat a 14-inch flat-bottomed wok or 12-inch skillet over high until a drop of water evaporates within 1 to 2 seconds of contact. Swirl in 1 tablespoon oil. Add beans, and sprinkle with salt; reduce heat to medium-low so that beans are barely sizzling.
- Cook, making quick scooping motions with a metal spatula, constantly tossing and tumbling (stir-frying) the beans until they just begin to blister and brown in spots and are almost tender, 3 to 6 minutes. Transfer beans to a plate.
- Increase heat under wok to high, and swirl in remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Add garlic; cook, stir-frying constantly, until fragrant, about 10 seconds.
- Add chopped shrimp, and break up any clumps using a metal spatula; cook, stir-frying constantly, until shrimp just take on an orange-pink hue, about 1 minute.
- Return beans to wok, and add scallions, fish sauce, pickled ginger, and sugar; cook, stir-frying constantly, until shrimp are just cooked through and beans are tender, 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Recipe by Grace Young for Food & Wine
Dumpling Dipping Sauce
Dumpling Dipping Sauce
This easy, flavorful dipping sauce is the perfect condiment for a range of homemade or store-bought dumplings. It can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.
Ingredients
- ½ cup soy sauce
- ½ cup rice vinegar
- 1 Tbsp. Chinese chile garlic sauce
- 1 tsp. toasted sesame oil
- 1 Tbsp. chopped scallion slices
Directions
- In a small bowl, whisk the soy sauce with the rice vinegar, chile-garlic sauce and sesame oil.
- Top with chopped scallion, then serve.
Recipe from Food & Wine
Accounting for Taste 