Fiery Pork Stir Fry with Chewy Green Beans

Get ready to discover your new favorite weeknight meal! This stir-fry is a game-changer, delivering an incredible depth of flavor and a wonderfully unique texture in just about 10 minutes of active cooking time. Don’t let the short cooking time fool you; this dish packs a serious punch. We’re talking tender slivers of pork, fiery bits of red chili, and the star of the show: chewy, sun-dried green beans. The magic of this dish lies in its simplicity and the delightful contrast between the savory, spicy sauce and the satisfying, springy bite of the rehydrated beans. It’s an incredibly easy stir-fry to master, perfect for beginners, and serves as a fantastic introduction to a different way of enjoying a familiar vegetable. It’s the kind of dish so flavorful it makes a simple bowl of steamed rice feel like a banquet.

Let’s gather our ingredients. The list is short and simple, with the dried green beans being the most unique component. You’ll be amazed at how a few basic ingredients can create something so delicious.

Ingredients:

• Pork: 150g / 5 oz, preferably pork loin or tenderloin, cut into thin slivers
• Dried Green Beans: a large handful (about 40g / 1.5 oz)
• Fresh Red Chilies: 2, such as Fresno or red jalapeño
• Garlic: 2-3 cloves
• High-Smoke-Point Oil: 2 tablespoons, such as peanut, vegetable, or canola oil
• Salt: ½ teaspoon, or to taste
• Light Soy Sauce: 1 tablespoon

A Note on Ingredients & Substitutions:

• Dried Green Beans (干豆角, gān dòu jiǎo): These are not your typical fresh or frozen green beans! They are mature long beans that have been blanched and sun-dried, which concentrates their flavor and gives them an amazing, pleasantly chewy texture. You can find them in most Asian markets or online. If you absolutely cannot find them, you have a couple of options. You could use thinly sliced, rehydrated shiitake mushrooms for a similar chewy, umami-rich experience. Alternatively, you can use fresh green beans (like haricots verts), but the texture will be crisp-tender instead of chewy. If using fresh beans, blanch them for 2-3 minutes in boiling water before stir-frying.
• Pork Slivers: Slicing the pork thinly against the grain is key to ensuring it stays tender during the quick cooking process.
• Light Soy Sauce: This is for seasoning and savory flavor (umami), not for dark color. Don’t confuse it with dark soy sauce. Tamari is a great gluten-free substitute.

Now for the fun part! This stir-fry comes together in a flash, so make sure all your ingredients are prepped and ready to go before you turn on the heat. This is the golden rule of stir-frying.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. First, prepare your pork. If it’s not already cut, slice the pork loin or tenderloin thinly against the grain into uniform slivers. Set aside.

2. Next, rehydrate the dried green beans. Place them in a medium bowl and cover completely with warm water. Let them soak for about 20-30 minutes, or until they are soft and pliable. Once they’re rehydrated, give them a good rinse, gently squeeze out any excess water, and chop them into bite-sized segments, about 1-2 inches long.

3. While the beans are soaking, prepare your aromatics. Peel and thinly slice the garlic cloves. Wash the red chilies, slice them in half lengthwise, and remove the stem. For a milder dish, scrape out the seeds and membranes before thinly slicing the chilies into strips.

4. Time to cook! Place a wok or a large skillet over high heat. When it’s very hot (a drop of water should sizzle and evaporate instantly), add your oil. Swirl to coat the pan, then add the pork slivers. Stir-fry for 1-2 minutes, until the pork is no longer pink. Add the sliced red chilies and garlic, and continue to stir-fry for about 30 seconds until they release their wonderful aroma. Now, add the rehydrated green bean segments to the wok. Season with salt and light soy sauce. Toss everything together vigorously for another minute to ensure the beans are heated through and everything is coated in the savory sauce.

5. That’s it! Immediately transfer the stir-fry from the wok to a serving plate.

This dish is best served hot, fresh from the wok, with a bowl of fluffy steamed rice. The experience is a true delight for the senses. You get the savory, tender pork, the sharp heat from the chilies, the fragrant garlic, and that incredible, satisfyingly chewy texture from the green beans. It’s what we call a “rice-killer” (下饭菜, xià fàn cài) in the best way possible—a dish so flavorful and addictive that you just can’t stop eating it with your rice. I hope you give this simple yet spectacular recipe a try. It’s a wonderful way to explore new textures and flavors in your own kitchen. Let me know how it turns out in the comments below!