Long beans are thick-skinned beans that take abuse well and have a texture that sauce loves to adhere to. For
Half Chinese New Year dinner, the long beans are served alongside the pork and duck as an alternative to meat.
The essential element to this dish is heat. The sauce needs instant heat for the black bean sauce to change from a fermented flavor that stomps on your tongue to one that politely elbows it.
Despite its simplicity, this recipe takes about a half hour to prep:
Do ahead:
Blanch the long beans in salted water and soak in cold water.
Trim the ends and then cut the beans in half or thirds and set aside.
Cut:
Three cloves of minced garlic
A half-inch of ginger minced
Two green onions
Sauce in a bowl or shake well in a lidded glass jar:
Two tablespoons of black bean sauce.
Two teaspoons of tapioca gluten.
Four Tablespoons of shitake mushroom broth (boil some fresh shitake mushrooms into a broth or use mushroom stock from the store).
Red pepper sauce can be added to the wok once green beans are cooking.
Coat a hot wok with oil and add garlic and ginger. When the ginger is crisp and golden add your beans.
Wait until the wok gets hot again. You want volatility, anger and rage to be sweltering inside the wok.
Then add the sauce mix.
The wok will riot.
Cheer.
Stir beans and add your red pepper sauce if desired.
Cover wok and turn off heat.
Plate beans, garnish with green onions: serve.
