Szechuan Green Beans and Pork Mince

[Deftone2k]

So this was in the Healthy Recipe thread in the S&F Journals section. The main idea behind it is a balanced meal focused around Protein/Fiber.

Ill probably redo this with photos in the coming weeks Just thought I would contribute a little more to this section of the forum as I ramp my cooking back up! Not exactly authentic.. I have had troubles replicating the 'Szechuan' style sauce you get in a lot of Chinese restaurants. I know that is probably very westernized but I just love those flavours. In terms of using Szechuan Peppers at home though.. I love them they are great and I especially enjoy Ma Po Tofu. Dont kill me for not having it properly authentic.. I wont claim them to be and I dont have them passed on I just get a recipe and give it a try.



Found this badboy online and adjusted a bit to suit

Ingredients:

• 500g Pork Mince
• 500g Green Beans (trimmed)
• 2 Garlic Cloves
• 20 Szechuan Chilli Peppers
• Pinch of Salt
• Pinch of Pepper
• 1 tb sp Olive Oil
• 2 tb sp Hoisin Sauce
• Light Soy Sauce
• Brown Rice
• Spoon of Cornflour
• 1 tspn Brown Sugar

Method:

• Mix mince and cornflour into a bowl
• Wash Green Beans, Cut ends off and Cut into 3 - 4cm lengths
• Chop Garlic Finely and mix with Green Beans
• In a small fry pan, roast Szechuan peppers on a high heat quickly whilst moving the peppers around (They will open up once roasted)
• Crush peppers in a Mortar and Pestle until a fine powder
• Heat olive oil in a Wok until smoking (Note: Olive oil may take a little longer to heat up)
• Add Mince, Garlic and Beans to the Wok and spread around amoungst the oil
• Break up mince with a wooden spoon and fork until crumbled
• Once Pork is browned, add Hoisin sauce, Sugar, Ground Szechuan Pepper and a splash of Soy sauce to the Wok.
• Add Salt and Pepper to Taste
• Cook for a further 5 minutes or until Beans are at a Cooked level you are happy with (Crunchy/Soft)
• Taste dish and add more Soy Sauce if desired.
• Cook 1 cup of Brown Rice
• Pre-Prepare 4 Tupperware containers and divvy up the Rice with mixture into each container.

Does well for about 4 lunches with the Rice. I used couscous this week as we had some left, i prefer to have more substance than rice in these cases. So bolster up the Mince/Beans if you want it to spread across 5 full meals, you will be surprised at how much 125g of Mince and 125g of Beans goes. You can also add Onion if you wish.

Hope you like! (Someone else can crunch the numbers)

[bevros]

I just made a slightly modified version of this.

I didn't have Szechuan Chilli Peppers so just used a Szechuan jar spice. Will definitely use the peppers next time and see how much of a difference in taste it makes.

Also i thought it was a bit odd to add the mince in with the beans at the same time so i browned the mince off before adding the beans. (I wanted them crunchy so only need a really short cooking time anyway)

End result! (sorry about the flash, was too keen to start eating! )

Delicious! And the brown rice was great with it.


Click to view full size!

[Deftone2k]

Nice Bev Do find some of the Szechuan Pepper Corns to use they really add a lot of flavour.. and you can use them for some other dishes too.. if you cant find any let me know ill mail you some.

I actually made this last night and tweaked it a bit as I didnt have any Hoisin sauce.. I used a little bit of Oyster instead. I also added some Chinese Rice Wine which added a nice flavour and a 1/3 of a cube of palm sugar instead of the brown sugar.

Came out pretty nice.. Brown Rice really mixes well with this dish and I would recommend spending the time to make it as the texture really compliments the mince and then the crunchy beans.

Good pickup on the mince browning first.. if I cook this slowly whilst waiting for rice then ill generally do it that way. Otherwise with pork/chicken mince you can stir fry it so quick that I find the beans are still pretty crunchy.

[death]

Made this the other day however I used the szechuan sauce in the asian isle at coles.

I also used sugar snap peas instead of green beans and added in sliced onions (cooked the onions a bit first).

Was pretty good and very quick to make.

[Deftone2k]

Originally Posted by death

Made this the other day however I used the szechuan sauce in the asian isle at coles.

I also used sugar snap peas instead of green beans and added in sliced onions (cooked the onions a bit first).

Was pretty good and very quick to make.

Do get some of the peppers to try.. I really prefer the flavour over the jarred stuff. The sugar snap peas would be nice.. definitely have to try it with them one day

[scon]

Mmm yum, szechuan peppers make a dish like this. They give your tongue an amazing numbing feeling that you cannot get from any other ingredient. I'll have to give this a go - I make Ma Po tofu all the time and this looks reasonably similar.

[Deftone2k]

Originally Posted by scon

Mmm yum, szechuan peppers make a dish like this. They give your tongue an amazing numbing feeling that you cannot get from any other ingredient. I'll have to give this a go - I make Ma Po tofu all the time and this looks reasonably similar.

Ahh yep I sort of found this around the time I was starting Ma Po. Actually a place in Sydney serves the dish... albeit the beans they use are generally a bit old and soft. Its quite funny as the dish is under the Vegetarian section of the menu, but its 'Beans with Pork Mince'

Classic

[Fatmantan]

I make this all the time, however modified to yours. I use some kecap manis to add the sugar to the dish. Also adds a little bit of colour so the pork isnt so grey/light brown.

Also for a change, i like to cut the beans into 1cm pieces. Easy to chew and you get a balance of pork bits and beans in each spoon

[Deftone2k]

Originally Posted by Fatmantan

I make this all the time, however modified to yours. I use some kecap manis to add the sugar to the dish. Also adds a little bit of colour so the pork isnt so grey/light brown.

Also for a change, i like to cut the beans into 1cm pieces. Easy to chew and you get a balance of pork bits and beans in each spoon

Nice i havent made this for a while now but will be getting back into it again soon. I cooked a Szechuan Eggplant & Tofu stirfry the other day. It was the absolute ugliest and most disgusting looking thing I have ever cooked.. but it tasted delicious.

[Fatmantan]

Good ol Mapo Tofu

Unless you used firm tofu and no mince

[RyoSaeba]

Have you tried using oyster sauce instead of hoisin sauce? I normally cook with oyster sauce with a splash of xiao xing wine and sesame oil for the aroma towards the end. Pretty standard chinese cooking sauce. Used to work for a few chinese restaurant and have to say I rarely see them cook with hoisin sauce. It's usually too sweet.

[aXis]

This is very similar to a chinese-malay dish, where they use Sambal Ikan Bilis / Sambal Belecan instead of the Szechuan peppers. The rest of it is pretty similar, adjusted to taste.

I did the sambal version a couple of times earlier this year and it rocked!!!!

[Deftone2k]

Originally Posted by Fatmantan

Good ol Mapo Tofu

Unless you used firm tofu and no mince

I do Ma Po as well I think its in this section somewhere lol.. I have done it with Kangaroo Mince even.

Originally Posted by RyoSaeba

Have you tried using oyster sauce instead of hoisin sauce? I normally cook with oyster sauce with a splash of xiao xing wine and sesame oil for the aroma towards the end. Pretty standard chinese cooking sauce. Used to work for a few chinese restaurant and have to say I rarely see them cook with hoisin sauce. It's usually too sweet.

Will try as I have those 3 ingredients. I really just use what I have.. its generally a dish made when there isnt much left in the fridge

Originally Posted by aXis

This is very similar to a chinese-malay dish, where they use Sambal Ikan Bilis / Sambal Belecan instead of the Szechuan peppers. The rest of it is pretty similar, adjusted to taste.

I did the sambal version a couple of times earlier this year and it rocked!!!!

Might try it, sounds pretty tasty.

[Huggy_Bear64]

Made this for dinner tonight.
Added Kecap Manis instead of some of the sugar but added too much
Also didn't add enough beans for the amount of mince (doubled the mince).
I added like 8 cloves of garlic and some 'ghost pepper sauce' because shit wasn't spicy enough