Szechuan fried beans with mince

Don't get to blog about vegetable dishes often as they don't photograph very well when cooked. We like this dish very much and this is one dish we always end up ordering if it is offered in the menu. It is also very easy to do at home.

Szechuan fried beans with mince

300 - 400 g french beans

50 - 100 gm minced meat (pork or chicken)

1 tablespoon dried prawns, soaked and chopped coarsely

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 inch ginger, chopped

soy sauce

sugar

sesame oil

szechuan peppercorns, toasted and ground

Oil for deep frying

1. Marinate the mince with light soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil.

2. Nip ends of beans (leave them whole), wash and dry. Heat oil and deep fry beans quickly until just soft. Drain.

3. Leave about 1 T oil in the wok, fry dried prawns until fragrant (I add a pinch of sugar here to caramelise the dried prawn) then dish out.

4. Add some oil to the wok and fry the ginger and garlic.

5. When aromatic, add the mince and fry stirring to break mince to small bits.

6. When meat is cooked, add in the beans and dry prawns and season with some more soy, sugar and peppercorns (optional) to taste.

7. Dish out and serve hot.

Note: As the beans are the main, don't overpowered the dish with the mince but just enough to flavour the veggie.

Jo