Beef With String Beans

BEEF WITH STRING BEANS

With steamed rice, this one-pan meal of beef and string beans is an easy and flavorful option for dinner. You may marinade the meat and make the sauce ahead of time (the night before or the morning of) and then just heat it up when you get home.

While the string beans in our Chicken with String Beans recipe are steamed, the ones in this recipe are fried in a dry, sizzling oil.

To aid in adhesion to the sauce, the green beans become slightly wrinkled during cooking.

String beans can also be steamed, as we do in the chicken version of this dish, if you prefer.

Most of our 10 Essential Chinese Pantry Ingredients can be found in your pantry, so this is a no-brainer.

Let’s get started on the recipe!

INGREDIENTS:

BEEF AND MARINADE:

• 3 tablespoons of water
• 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil
• 1 pound of sliced flank steak
• 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon of oyster sauce

SAUCE:

• 1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of dark soy sauce
• 1/2 cup of chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon of sesame oil
• 1/8 teaspoon of white pepper
• 1 1/2 tablespoons light soy sauce

REST OF THE DISH:

• 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 2 cloves of minced garlic
• 1 pound string beans
• 1 tablespoon of Shaoxing wine
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch, mixed with 45 ml water

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Add the beef, baking soda, and water to a bowl and mix thoroughly. Massage the meat until it has absorbed all of the liquid. Set aside for 30 minutes to marinate the cornstarch, oil, and oyster sauce.
2. Mix everything together in a measuring cup, including the chicken stock, light soy sauce and dark soy sauce, as well as the sugar and oyster sauce, and set aside.
3. Smoke your wok by heating it to a high temperature. Sear the beef in 2 tablespoons of oil until it is well-browned (this should only take 2 minutes). Remove the beef from the pan, turn off the heat, and store it in an airtight container. The wok should be cleaned of all of its oil.
4. Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan, along with the string beans, and bring it to a boil. Cook the string beans for 6-8 minutes on each side, until they are lightly charred and wrinkled.
5. For 30 seconds, add the garlic and stir-fry. Pour the Shaoxing wine around the wok’s perimeter after increasing the heat to high.
6. Pour in the sauce mixture you prepared previously. Deglaze the wok by stirring the sauce into the corners. Take care to bring the sauce to a boil.
7. Stir a cornstarch-and-water slurry until it’s completely smooth. Pour the slurry into the sauce in a slow, steady stream, stirring constantly. 20 seconds later, remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Stir-fry the beef back into the wok to incorporate. With rice, of course!