Chinese · Sichuan · side

Dry-Fried Green Beans (Gan Bian Si Ji Dou)

Dry-Fried Green Beans (Gan Bian Si Ji Dou) reads richness 6.0, umami 5.3 and nutty 4.8 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Chinese · Sichuan side, about 11 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

• Umami & Savory — 6.1 / 10
• Sweet & Fruity — 4.3 / 10
• Sour & Bright — 1.6 / 10
• Bitter & Earthy — 1.9 / 10
• Rich & Fat — 7.4 / 10
• Aromatic & Spice — 5.1 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Richness 6.0 · Umami 5.3 · Nutty 4.8 · Salinity 4.7 · Allium 4.6 · Sweetness 4.2 · Funk & Ferment 3.3 · Warm Spice 2.6 · Earthy 1.7 · Herbaceous 1.5 · Floral 1.5 · Citrus 1.3 · Heat 1.1 · Sourness 1.0 · Bitterness 1.0

What's in it (13)

• green beans — 400 g
• peanut oil — 460 g
• pork — 80 g
• ya cai — 30 g
• dried sichuanese chillies — 30 g
• sichuan pepper — 5 g
• garlic — 15 g
• ginger — 10 g
• shaoxing wine — 15 g
• soy sauce — 5 g
• caster sugar — 2 g
• salt — 1 g
• sesame oil — 5 g

Time & effort: about 11 min (10 min active) · effort: medium

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 61.6 kcal, 3.9 g protein, 3.2 g fat, 5.3 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (5 steps)

1. Dry the beans thoroughly. Heat the oil to 190 C and fry them for 3 to 4 minutes, until the skins have blistered, wrinkled and gone khaki in patches. They should look shrivelled, not bright green. Lift out and drain. Without a deep pan of oil, dry-fry them in 2 tbsp oil over high heat for 8 to 10 minutes, which is the older method and gives the same puckered skin.
2. Pour off all but 2 tbsp of the oil. Over medium heat add the pork and stir-fry 2 minutes, breaking it up, until the grains have separated and smell nutty.
3. Add the chillies and Sichuan pepper and stir-fry 20 seconds until the oil is fragrant and the chillies have just darkened a shade. Do not let them blacken or the whole dish turns bitter. Add the garlic and ginger for 15 seconds more.
4. Add the ya cai and stir-fry 1 minute, until it smells savoury and faintly funky. Preserved mustard greens are what make this dish taste of Sichuan rather than of chilli.
5. Return the beans, splash the Shaoxing wine around the rim of the wok, then add the soy sauce, sugar and salt. Toss over high heat for 1 minute until everything is dry and clinging with no liquid pooling. Off the heat, stir in the sesame oil.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

• One-Pan Vegetable Fried Rice with Egg — Chinese-American
• Korean Ground Beef Bowl — Korean
• Vegetable Fried Rice — Chinese-American
• Vegetable Fried Rice with Crispy Fried Egg — Chinese-American
• Xiaolongbao (小笼包) — Chinese

Keep reading: what richness, umami, nutty mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

See how this dish fits your palate — take the short taste test →

Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.