These Sichuan Chilli Green Beans are a delicious Chinese dish that tastes delicious on their own or served with fried rice.
Sichuan cuisine
I've been lucky enough to have been to China and enjoyed a wide range of traditional and regional dishes. One of my favourite cuisines is Sichuan, a style of Chinese cooking that originates from the Sichuan province.
Sichuan cooking is known for its punchy flavours using liberal amounts of chilli and the famous Sichuan pepper.
What is Sichuan pepper?
Sichuan pepper are the berries of a prickly ash tree, which is a member of the citrus family.
It has a spicy, tingling, numbing effect which adds some real flair to a dish. It's believed that the tingling numbing effect actually reduces the heat of the red chilli pepper also often found in Sichuan cooking. The resulting effect is that you can taste more of the red chilli pepper's more subtle, fruity flavour.
Where can I buy Sichuan pepper?
Sichuan pepper isn't always available in supermarkets. You may find it easier to source from an Asian supermarket or online.
Stir fried green beans
As well as Sichuan pepper, this recipe sees green beans stir fried with garlic, ginger, spring onions and red chilli peppers.
I love stir frying veggies because they keep them crisp and fresh. Stir frying with aromatics like garlic, ginger and spring onion just adds to the bright, clean flavour.
Stir frying couldn't be easier, you simply heat a little oil and add the aromatics. Cook these on low before you turn up the heat to cook the veggies hard and fast.
It only takes a few minutes to have your dish ready to eat. You can make this Sichuan Chilli Green Beans recipe in just under 10 minutes.
The recipe
Sichuan Chilli Green Beans
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 knob ginger peeled and cut into matchsticks
- 3 spring onions sliced lengthways
- 2 red chillies de-seeded and thinly sliced
- 1.5 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns
- 250 g green beans trimmed
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a flat bottomed frying pan or wok.
- Add the garlic, ginger, spring onions, red chilli and Sichuan pepper.
- Stir fry for 2 minutes until releasing their aromas.
- Turn up the heat to high and add the trimmed green beans to the pan.
- Cook on high for 5 - 8 minutes.
- Add the soy sauce to season.
- Serve while piping hot.
Nutrition
More Chinese inspired recipes
The Chinese recipe collection
For the full range of Chinese inspired recipes check out my Chinese recipe collection.
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