One of my favourite ways to eat green beans is to fry them. They get charred and crisp yet also remain crunchy and refreshing. Add some sambal oelek and some ground pork to the mixture (along with a few other ingredients) and you have a spicy Asian-inspired meal in less than 20 minutes!
Servings: 4
Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1/2 pound lean ground pork
- 1 medium-sized shallot, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, finely diced
- 2 pounds green beans, stems trimmed
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 3-4 tablespoons sambal oelek
Directions:
Begin by cooking the pork. Add 1 teaspoon of olive oil to a frying pan and heat over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the pork and fry for 4-5 minutes, breaking up the pork into small, bite-sized pieces.
After 5 minutes, the pork should be fully cooked, or just about done. Add the shallots and garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until the shallots and garlic have softened. Remove the pork mixture from the pan and set aside on a plate. Leave all the pork juices in the pan.
Add the trimmed beans to the pan along with the water. Cover the pan with a lid and let the beans steam over high heat for 3-4 minutes, until the water has mostly evaporated and beans have turned bright green and have slightly softened.
Next, remove the lid from the pan and add the olive oil. Toss the beans in the olive oil and fry the beans over high heat for 2 minutes per side, or until the beans have become crispy and charred. This should take about 6 minutes or so.
Once the beans have crisped up, add the pork mixture (and all those tasty juices) back to the pan along with the soy sauce and sambal oelek. Toss everything together to combine and cook for 1 minute to allow the flavours to combine. Serve hot from the pan by itself or with a side of rice.
Enjoy!
Note: I used 4 tablespoons of sambal oelek in my recipe and it was very spicy, so use less (about 2 tablespoons) if you don’t like super spicy foods or are sensitive to them.
