China · Shaanxi
Northern Shaanxi Stewed Beans
Farmhouse stew of long beans and potato simmered with tomato, chili and five-spice until everything collapses into a thick, sour-sweet sauce.
This is the stewing style of the northern Shaanxi countryside, where beans are cooked down until they lose their shape rather than staying snappy as they do elsewhere. Long beans are the anchor and the potato is there for weight, since together they turn the pot into something that stands on its own with rice. Tomato goes in late so it breaks down into the sauce rather than staying in pieces.
Ingredients
- long beans300 g
- potato1 pieces
- tomato1 pieces
- green chilies2 pieces
- salt6 g
- light soy sauce6 ml
- five-spice powder3 g
- oyster sauce6 ml
- ginger2 g
- garlic cloves2 pieces
Directions
- 1
Chop the scallion, mince the garlic and cut the ginger into fine strips.
- 2
String the long beans and cut them into 2 to 10 cm lengths.
- 3
Peel the potato and cut it into 1 cm cubes.
- 4
Peel the tomato and cut it into 1 cm cubes.
- 5
Remove the seeds from the chilies and cut them into 0.15 cm strips.
- 6
Heat 10 to 15 ml of oil in the wok and, once it smokes, add the scallion, ginger and garlic and fry until fragrant.
- 7
Add the long beans and stir-fry until their color changes from dull green to bright green.
- 8
Add the potato and stir for 30 seconds.
- 9
Add hot water, just covering the vegetables, cover the wok and cook until the potato is soft, which you can test with a chopstick.
- 10
Add the tomato along with the salt, light soy sauce, oyster sauce, five-spice powder and chilies, and cook until the tomato breaks down, stirring now and then so it does not catch.
- 11
Add chopped cilantro and serve.
Source: HowToCook · WorldBite adaptation · Unlicense source text; bilingual recipe adapted by WorldBite.