You'll love this recipe for pork stir fry and green beans. This Szechuan pork dish is a quick stir-fry recipe that tastes delicious and makes a great leftover too. The slightly charred green beans go well with the crispy minced pork. The stir-fry sauce is slightly sweet and salty, so addictive!
If you are craving Szechuan food, you may want to try this pork stir fry and green beans for dinner tonight. This Chinese minced pork recipe tastes as good or even better than you'll get at the restaurant.
This recipe was inspired by the Vietnamese minced pork recipe on my site and pairs well with this white rice.
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Why You'll Love this Pork Stir Fry Recipe
- Simple. This is a simple version of the authentic Szechuan pork stir fry. It's using fewer ingredients than the original version but without sacrificing the taste. You can find most of the ingredients in your pantry and at local grocery stores. There is no need to make a long trip to Asian grocers unless you want to.
- Easy. This pork stir fry recipe can be ready in about 30 minutes. It makes the perfect last-minute dinner.
- Cost-efficient. This minced pork stir fry recipe can be made at the fraction of the cost you'd pay at the restaurant.
- Healthier. The green beans are slightly charred on medium heat instead of deep-frying them in cups of oil. As a final result, you'll get these crispy tender green beans that aren't too heavy in calories.
Ingredients
To make this minced pork stir fry recipe, you'll need:
- Minced pork. You can buy minced pork at the grocery or ground the meat on your own.
- Green beans. Use fresh green beans that aren't too thin.
- Garlic. It's the most common ingredient used in Chinese stir fry. It adds aromatic and umami flavors to the sauce.
- Ginger. You can use frozen or fresh minced ginger.
- Dried Red Chili Pepper. In this recipe, I used dried chile de Arbol, but any other type of dried red chilies will work fine too. For the most authentic version, you can use Szechuan Chinese red chili pods.
You'll also need the following ingredients to make the stir-fry sauce:
- Chinese cooking - Shaoxing wine. I used Chinese cooking wine also known as Shaoxing wine to quickly marinate the pork before stir-frying it.
- Soy sauce. I prefer the light soy sauce that still gives an umami flavor to the dish.
- Dark soy sauce. This type of soy sauce is usually used in a Chinese stir fry to add a nice dark brown color to the dish. It's less salty than regular soy sauce and only needs a small amount.
- Sugar. Used to add sweetness to the dish.
How to Make Pork Stir Fry
1. Prepare the Green Beans
- Wash, trim, then cut the green beans into 2-inch slices. Pat them dry with paper towels to remove any excess moisture.
2. Prepare the Minced Pork
In a bowl, combine minced pork, half of the light soy sauce, half of the dark soy sauce, and Shaoxing wine. Let it marinate while you're charring the green beans.
3. Stir Fry
It's very common in a Chinese stir fry to cook the meat and vegetables separately before combining them all together with stir fry sauce.
- In a wok or large skillet, heat oil then cook the green beans over medium heat for 5 minutes (or longer, until slightly charred). Transfer the beans to a plate and set them aside.
- In the same wok, add more oil and heat it over high heat. Add pork and cook undisturbed for 1 minute or until browned, then start breaking it apart. Keep stirring until the pork is fully cooked and slightly crispy.
- Reduce the heat to medium. Add garlic, ginger, and dried red chili peppers. Keep stirring for 1 minute or until fragrant.
- Add the charred green beans back into the wok and mix in the stir-fry sauce.
- Keep cooking and stirring for a few minutes until the sauce is fully absorbed into the meat and green beans.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt or soy sauce.
Tips and Variations
- To adjust saltiness. Just add a small amount of salt. Do not go overboard with soy sauce or that is all that you'll taste!
- Shaoxing wine. It's now sold at any Asian or regular grocery store. If you can't find it, feel free to replace it with dry sherry.
- Chili. I personally like to remove the seeds from chili peppers prior to cooking. This prevents the dish from getting too spicy. If you love spicy food, feel free to keep the seeds. Alternatively, you can skip the dried chili pepper to eliminate the spicy taste entirely.
- Green beans. Since you'll be using about a pound of green beans, make sure that they are not too thin so the dish gets a proportional amount of green beans vs pork.
- Customize it. If you want to make it more authentic, add some freshly minced whole Sichuan peppercorn, or shredded Sichuan preserved mustard.
- Use a large skillet. Make sure that the skillet is big enough to hold the ingredients comfortably. When the skillet is too small and filled with too many ingredients, the heat gets trapped under the food and creates steam. As a result, the food will not be properly stir-fried and instead may get soggy.
FAQ
Let the pork stir fry cools down to room temperature, no longer than 2 hours or 1 hour when the temperature is 90°F or above. Transfer the leftover to an airtight container. Properly stored, they can last up to 3 days in the fridge or 2 months in the freezer.
Put the leftover pork stir fry on a microwave-safe dish. Splash it with a small amount of water, cover the plate, and heat it for 45 seconds or longer.
Check Out More Ground Pork Recipes
I hope you'll enjoy this recipe and share it with friends! If you try it and don't mind, please leave me a comment and/or give this recipe a rating. Be sure to subscribe to receive weekly recipes and follow me on Pinterest.
📖 Recipe
Pork Stir Fry and Green Beans
Ingredients
- 8 oz minced pork
- 16 oz fresh green beans (Wash, trim, then cut the green beans to 2-inch slices)
- 1 tablespoon Shao-xing wine (or use dry sherry)
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce (divided)
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce (divided)
- 10 dried red chili peppers (optional) cut into bite pieces and remove the seeds.
- 2½ tablespoons neutral oil (peanut, canola, or vegetable oil)
- 1 teaspoon white sugar
- 1¼ tablespoons chopped garlic
- 1¼ tablespoons chopped ginger
- salt and white/black pepper (to taste)
Method
- In a bowl, mix 1½ teaspoons of soy sauce, ½ teaspoon of dark soy sauce, and sugar. Set it aside.
- In a bowl, mix minced pork, 1½ teaspoons of soy sauce, ½ teaspoon of dark soy sauce, and Shaoxing wine. Set it aside.
- In a large skillet or wok, heat 1½ tablespoons of oil. Cook the green beans over medium heat, stir every 15-30 seconds for 5 minutes (or longer, until slightly charred). Transfer the beans to a plate and set them aside.
- Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the wok and heat it over high heat. Cook pork, undisturbed, for 1 minute or until browned, then start breaking it apart with a spatula. Keep stirring until the pork is fully cooked and slightly crispy.
- Reduce the heat to medium. Add garlic, ginger, and dried red chili peppers. Keep stirring for 1 minute or until fragrant.
- Add the green beans back into the wok and mix in the stir-fry sauce. Stir for a few minutes until the sauce is fully absorbed into the meat and green beans. Taste and adjust the seasoning with a pinch of salt and/or pepper.
Nutrition
Notes
- Chili. To prevent the dish from getting too spicy, you can remove the seeds from the chili peppers prior to cooking. Alternatively, you can skip the dried chili pepper to eliminate the spicy taste entirely.
- Green beans. Since you'll be using about a pound of green beans, make sure that they are not too thin so the dish gets a proportional amount of green beans vs pork.
- Use a large skillet. Make sure that the skillet is big enough to hold the ingredients comfortably. When the skillet is too small and filled with too many ingredients, the heat gets trapped under the food and creates steam. As a result, the food will not be properly stir-fried and instead may get soggy.
- To adjust saltiness. Just add a small amount of salt. Do not go overboard with soy sauce or that is all that you'll taste!
- Store. Transfer the leftover to an airtight container. Properly stored, they can last up to 3 days in the fridge or 2 months in the freezer.
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