Green String Beans with Dried Shrimp and Japanese Chilies (日本指天椒蝦米青豆角, Jat6 Bun2 Zi2 Tin1 Ziu1 Haa1 Mai5 Ceng1 Dau6 Gok3)

This is actually a very easy dish to make and is made with a minimal amount of sauce. There are three principal ingredients: green string beans, dried shrimp, and whole dried Japanese chilies. Green string beans are a common enough ingredient that can be obtained at any local market. The dried shrimp can be purchased at your local Asian market (usually from the refrigerated section). In this case, I used the smallest sized dried shrimp available, but you can use whatever sized dried shrimp that you have. Finally the last principal ingredient is the dried whole Japanese chili peppers.

The dried whole Japanese chili peppers were purchased at my local Mexican market, which are similar to the more common Chile de árbol peppers (which have more heat to them). The dried Japanese chili peppers aren’t mind numbing hot like the dried red chilies that you can purchase at your local Asian market. While there is some heat, the chilies are more flavorful than hot. The whole Japanese chilies make the dish very spicy without being overly hot, but you can substitute the Asian red chilies if you really like the mind numbing hotness. Ground pork (actually any ground meat) can also be added to this dish.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

½ cup	125 ml.	Dried shrimp (蝦米, haa1 mai5)
1 lb.	500 g.	Green string beans (青豆角, ceng1 dau6 gok3), cut into 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces
3 stalks	3 stalks	Green onions (葱, cung1), cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces on the diagonal
12-24	12-24	Dried whole Japanese chili peppers (日本指天椒, jat6 bun2 zi2 tin1 ziu1); to taste
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), crushed in a garlic press
4 cloves	4 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), crushed in a garlic press
		Oil for cooking

Sauce Ingredients

1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
½ Tbs.	7.5 ml.	Hoisin sauce (海鮮醬, hoi2 sin1 zoeng3)
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
½ tsp.	2.5 ml.	Ground white pepper (白胡椒, baak6 wu4 ziu1)
½ Tbs.	7.5 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)

Equipment

		Garlic press
14 in.	35.5 cm.	Wok or pan

Preparation Instructions

1. Place the dried shrimp into a small bowl. There’s no need to presoak the dried shrimp before cooking for this recipe. This gives the shrimp a crunchy texture after being stir fried.
2. Wash and cut the green string beans into 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces.
3. Crush the ginger and garlic in a garlic press and put into a small bowl.
4. Remove any stems from the dried whole Japanese chili peppers and place into a small bowl. The amount of Japanese chili peppers to use in this dish depends upon personal taste and is optional, so feel free to reduce or increase the amount.
5. Wash and cut the green onions into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces on the diagonal.
6. Prepare and mix the sauce in a small bowl: add the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, ground white pepper, and sesame oil.

Cooking Instructions

1. Heat a wok or pan over high heat before adding oil. Add the dried shrimp to the wok in a single layer on the bottom and brown the shrimp. Transfer the shrimp to a bowl.
2. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the dried whole Japanese chili peppers. Brown the chili peppers before adding the green string beans. Add the bowl with the ginger and garlic mixture to the wok, and then some oil to the mixture. Quickly stir fry all the ingredients until the ginger and garlic become fragrant. Add the green onions and the contents of the bowl with the shrimp back into the wok, and stir fry all the ingredients together.
3. Add the sauce ingredients to the wok and mix the ingredients together. Put the cooked ingredients into a serving dish and serve with steamed rice.