Recipe: Dry Fried Green Beans with Vegan Minced 'Pork'

Green beans with minced pork is a simple dish that often appears on the table in a Chinese home. It’s a frugal ‘whipped up’ dish, since traditionally you would use only a tiny amount minced pork (which is cheap in itself) to add flavour. This is the quintessentially Chinese approach to cooking with meat — it’s treated more as a garnish and flavour enhancer.

How to create a vegan version? You could replace the pork with finely minced shiitake mushrooms or diced smoked tofu to add umami flavour. However, I did happen to pick up some Vivera vegan mince at my supermarket and thought I’d give this dish a go. I try not to eat fake meat too regularly, since I don’t crave the taste and it’s best to avoid overly processed food, even if they are vegan (note, vegan ≠ empirically healthy!). When it comes to protein, I look to high–protein plant–based foods such as legumes, beans, mushrooms, broccoli, quinoa, wild rice and of course all manner of soy–based products.

But once in a while, it’s fun to try something new, especially as the Vivera has a fairly simple list of ingredients (mostly rehydrated soy protein). In fact, this experiment has inspired me to work on a separate Chinese Vegan 101 Guide to Fake Meat — in which I will discuss the history of Chinese fake meat, processed vs non–processed, recommended brands, health benefits and pitfalls of such meat substitutes. As ever, I think there is no absolute empirical answer where both nutrition and ethics are concerned, and it’s important for people to do their own research and decide their own values.

Anyway, where was I? A word on the aromatics in this dish; they can be personalised to your own taste. I often see this dish attributed as ‘Sichuan style’, with the classic ma la flavour pairing. But actually when you omit the peppercorns and chillies you still have a perfectly delectable meal that deploys a simpler, more Southern Chinese seasoning. At least, that is how I remember my mum preparing this dish. The only distinctly Sichuan style of cooking here is the ‘dry frying’ technique; below I have suggested two healthy ways of cooking the green beans to achieve that lovely blistered effect, while minimising the amount of oil used.

Cook’s note: prepare the vegan mince and green beans separately. Any leftover mince can be used creatively — for example as a noodle topping, dumpling filling or vegetable stuffing.

Let me know if you try this recipe and share your results on Instagram with #CelestialPeach.

Ingredients (serves 4 as part of a family-style meal)

For the vegan mince:

2 tbsp sesame oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 thumb of ginger, minced
1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns, roughly crushed (optional)
~ 200g vegan mince
2 medium heat red chillies, sliced OR 1 tsp chilli flakes
1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine (optional)
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp black vinegar
Salt and white pepper

For the beans:

~ 200g green beans, trimmed at both ends
1 tsp light vegetable or olive oil

Instructions

For the vegan mince:

Heat the oil in a large saucepan or wok to smoking point. Reduce to a lower heat and quickly stir fry the garlic, ginger and Sichuan peppercorns until they release a fragrant aroma.
Add the vegan mince and chillies and stir fry for a few more minutes on medium/high heat.
Add in the liquids when the pan begins to dry out, and
Finish with salt and white pepper to taste.

For the beans:

Option 1: heat the oil in a large saucepan or wok and fry the beans until they are slightly blistered and dehydrated. Make sure you move them around the pan quickly to avoid burning.
Option 2: toss the beans in the oil and lay out on a baking tray. Pre–heat an oven at 200C and roast the beans for 15 minutes. Turn the grill on for the last few minutes to blister the beans. Keep an eye on them and shake the pan halfway through to avoid burning.

Serving suggestion: