When Mama Lin visited a few weeks ago, she was so excited to show me how to make her garlic green beans. It is something she started cooking recently for my family back home, and everyone loves it!
The unique quality about this dish is that the green beans are flash fried. This quickly blisters a thin layer of the skin, causing it to wrinkle. You only need to fry the beans for 1 to 2 minutes, which will keep the center tender and lightly crisp. When you bite into the green beans, you can taste the blistered skin and tender center in every bite. It’s so delicious!
COOKING NOTES FOR GARLIC GREEN BEANS
PREPARATION FOR FLASH FRYING GREEN BEANS
After you wash the green beans, make sure to dry them thoroughly. You don’t want the beans to be wet because you’ll be dropping the beans into hot oil. Any water going into hot oil will cause the oil to splatter violently.
Usually, I spin the green beans in a salad spinner and spread the beans over a towel to air dry for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
TIPS FOR FRYING GREEN BEANS
I like to fry the green beans inside a smaller narrow-bottomed wok because I don’t need to use as much oil for frying. For this recipe, I used about 1/2 cup safflower oil. If you don’t have a small wok, a small saucepan works, too. Just use tongs to remove the beans from the saucepan.
To see if the oil is hot enough for frying, I usually stick bamboo chopsticks into the wok so that the tips of the chopsticks are touching the bottom. If you see tiny bubbles rapidly forming around the chopsticks, it means that the oil is hot enough. This is a trick I learned from Mama Lin!
These green beans only need 1 or 2 minutes of frying, until the skins start to wrinkle. You don’t want to fry them for too long because the beans will lose the crisp in the center and turn mushy.
WHAT TO DO WITH LEFTOVER FRYING OIL
You can reuse leftover frying oil. Right after I fry the green beans, I carefully pour the frying oil into a bowl to cool. If you’d rather not handle hot oil, let the oil cool in the wok completely before the next step. Once the oil has cooled completely, strain the oil through a fine mesh to extract any burnt bits in the oil. Transfer the strained oil to a jar and store in a cool, dark place.
I try to use the oil in a few weeks. If you can’t use it up, throw the oil away inside the jar or a tightly sealed container. DO NOT pour oil into the sink, as it is not good for the environment and it might damage your pipes.
Check out this post from Bon Appétit for more information on storing and using leftover frying oil.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH GREEN BEANS
Chinese Garlic Green Beans
Ingredients
- 1 pound green beans, rinsed, and dried (see note 1)
- 1/2 cup safflower or vegetable oil, (see note 2)
- 2 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic, about 5 to 6 plump cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt or kosher salt
Optional Garnish
- red pepper flakes
- toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- Snap off the tough ends of the green beans. If your green beans are very long, snap them in half.
- Heat the oil in a wok over medium-high heat. To check to see if the oil is hot enough, stick bamboo chopsticks into the wok so that the tips of the chopsticks are touching the bottom. You want to see tiny bubbles rapidly forming around the chopsticks. Alternatively, you can throw a green bean into the wok. If bubbles start to form around the bean immediately, the oil is ready for frying.
- Working in batches, fry the green beans for about 2 minutes, until the green beans start to wrinkle on the outside. You don’t need to cook the green beans for too long. Use a spider strainer to strain the oil from the beans and then transfer them to a plate lined with paper towels. Repeat until all the beans are fried. Turn off the heat. If you want the beans to be less greasy, blot them with paper towels.
- Carefully pour the used frying oil into a bowl. If you do not want to handle hot oil, let the oil cool completely in the wok. Don’t bother wiping the wok at this point because you’ll be using it to fry the garlic next, and you can use the residual oil in the wok for that.
- Heat the wok over medium-high heat. Add the minced garlic and cook it for about 30 seconds to 1 minute, until fragrant. Add the green beans back to the wok, along with the salt. Stir to combine. Cook for another minute. Turn off the heat and transfer the green beans to a serving plate. Garnish the beans with red pepper flakes and toasted sesame seeds, if you like.
Video
Notes
- You can also use wax beans or Chinese long beans for this!
- Canola or any other neutral-flavored oil works, too. You want to cover the bottom of a wok with 1/2 to 1 inch of oil. For my narrow-bottomed wok, 1/2 cup of safflower oil is enough. However, you might need a little more.
- If you don’t have a wok, you can fry these in a saucepan. You’ll need a slotted spoon to remove the fried green beans.
Nutrition
Elaine says
Thank you for sharing this Recipe. They are delicious. Now I can cook restaurant style green beans at home.
Lisa Lin says
Thank you!
Forrest says
Will this recipe work with frozen green beans?
Lisa Lin says
I don’t think so. There’s too much moisture in frozen green beans, so they won’t flash fry properly.
Melissa Griffiths says
YUMM-O! I love getting these at the restaurant and now I can make them at home!
Lisa Lin says
Let me know if you do!
Marie says
This sounds so easy that even a non-cook like me might actually be able to make it turn out right. LOL!
Sue says
I like these with butter just for the flavor change. Not quite as healthy….oh well! Bacon is a nice touch too.
Genevieve says
Easy and delicious – this is my go-to Chinese restaurant dish and I’m so grateful there’s an easy way to replicate this at home now! Next time, I might fry mine a bit shy of 2 minutes (I need to keep reminding myself that I should go by what I see and not strictly by the clock) to get more crunch and less char – mine weren’t quite as green as I wanted. If you want, you can let them rest on some paper towels after frying to blot any excessive oil. I might keep ordering this at restaurants (my Chinese is limited and I don’t love the mess that comes with frying) but if you’re looking for a si ji dou recipe to do at home, THIS IS IT! Thank you Lisa!
Gail Carter says
Question: Can you make these earlier in the day and reheat later?
Lisa Lin says
I don’t think the texture of the beans will be quite the same. I haven’t done it before, so I’m not 100% sure.
Dina says
I’ve always bought green beans out of neccessity (adding greens to my homemade meals). But I tried this recipe last night and it’s a game changer!
Mimi says
Dishes like this are the reason Chinese kids don’t hate veggies! I added some chopped dried chili peppers in with the garlic, and they turned out great. Thanks for the recipe.
Penny says
Thank you for sharing this recipe! I made it and it turned out pretty good for my first try. I think I may have accidentally left the green beans a minute too long while frying so will know better for next time. Can’t wait to try it again! Thank you!
Penny says
Forgot to add, definitely a 5 star for this recipe as you can tweak it to make it more healthier at home then when you order at restaurants!
Lisa Lin says
Hi Penny, thank you SO MUCH for making these green beans! I’m so glad you liked it!
Tein says
Made these for my husband who is from Taiwan and he absolutely loved them (which is saying a lot since he can be quite picky haha!) also, I used coconut oil, which worked very well! We also refrigerated leftovers and heated them back up later and they still tasted amazing, but were a little softer than freshly made. Still as delicious as ever! Thank you so much for this recipe!!!!
Pippa says
This was so delicious. I love those garlic green beans at the restaurant and could never work out why I could never achieve the same tenderness at home. But WOW we did it. These were amazing and delicious. I used less oil in my wok and did more batches since I don’t like having too much old frying oil lying around. Worked out just fine, so yummy.
Lisa Lin says
Pippa, thank you so much for trying this recipe! I’m glad less oil worked for you!
G says
I made this and it was really easy! This will definitely be a recipe I will repeat whenever I cook Asian. I cooked each batch for 2 minutes. It took about 5-6 batches to cook all of the beans that I made. Delicious! I used Spectrum canola oil (cold-pressed), and I saved the oil afterward. It was permanently a darker brown color. I used the oil on some popcorn a bit later and it was really good. I’m hoping some of the green bean nutrition is in the oil. 🙂
Philip says
Hello Lisa, excellent recipe, my wife and I love it, thank you.
Just one question, if the green beans are not crunchy enough would you make the oil more hot or cook longer? They where really good but a bit soft so I was wondering, for next time, if I should cook them longer or with more heat. Do you have to wait until the beens are a bit brown or they could be crunchy before? Thanks a lot, Philip
Andy says
I’ve been trying to replicate these beans for a couple of years, and finally I have a great recipe! These are super-tasty. Thanks!
Lisa Lin says
Thanks, Andy!
Mellissa says
Hi I was wondering if you could fry the green beans in sesame oil?