Each time the summer rolls around and BBQing starts I make my favorite side dish, Spicy Green Beans. The dish balances the sweetness of the beans with a smoky, spicy sauce. It is best made with fresh green beans, they are nice and crisp, but frozen green beans can be used too. Frozen might be the way to if the “fresh” beans are not looking so fresh and crisp. This recipe would also work with asparagus or yard-long beans.
I just made this last week for a BBQ at our place… and of course ramped it up a bit, to roughly 4.5 pounds of beans. What can I say, I found a good price on beans. Anyhow everyone really liked them and the recipe seems to scale up pretty easily. It made about 20 servings or so. The ONLY bummer with the recipe is that it takes a while to take of the stem and tip of the bean and cut them to size… this actually what you will spend most of the cooking time doing. Keep at it though, having them the same size will make sure all the beans cook to the same doneness. If you are a wimp you can reduce the about of chili flakes and oil.
Spicy Green Bean Salad
From: The Chinese Chef, Martin Yan
Ingredients
Dressing
- 1 green onion (white part only), minced
- 2 1/2 Tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
- 4 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil (any oil without a lot of flavor
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with 1 1/2 teaspoons water
- 1/2 teaspoon dried red chili flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon chili oil (import ingredient, don’t leave out)
Beans
- 1 pound green beans
- 4 cups water
- 1/4 teaspoons salt
Preparation
- Combine dressing ingredients in a pot or pan big enough to hold all of the beans. Set aside.
- Remove ends (and string if it is very stringy), then cut diagonally into 2-inch pieces.
Cooking
- Bring water and salt to a boil in a medium-size saucepan. Blanch beans in boiling water for 6 to 8 minutes (keep tasting beans, you want them to be tender, but still a little on the crunchy side. Of course preferences may vary). Rinse under cold water; drain well. I even stuck them in a salad spinner for a bit.
- Bring dressing to a boil over medium high heat. Cook, stirring until dressing thickens slightly. Add beans to dressing, tossing to coat the beans.
- Cover and refrigerate. Serve cold.
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