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Does anyone know how to make these? I'm pretty sure they are just blanched and fried (w/garlic), but I can't seem to get it right.

Aaronut
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justin
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4 Answers4

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I think the problem lies in that the beans are not water blanched, but rather oil blanched. The technique is called "dry frying", and is a traditional Sichuan cooking method. The oil temp is kept low to dry out the inside while cooking the outside of the food. After the dry frying you can then stir fry the food. This technique should give you the required look and texture to the food. Hope this helps.

JG sd
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  • At what temperature and for how long? Will the color stay as vivid as the pictures? – Jolenealaska May 25 '14 at 03:37
  • Dry frying is much lower temp than deep frying. I say around 220-225 degrees, which is higher than boiling water (212 degrees). You will have to experiment with time, but I would say try starting with about 5-8 minutes. Stir often to keep things heating evenly. Drain well, then you can just add it back into a empty hot wok and then start with the rest of the recipe. I think this will give you the texture and flavor you are looking for. In my experience, this technique gives you very dark green beans that are crispy outside (from stir frying in high heat) and dry inside from this method. – JG sd May 26 '14 at 15:28
  • That makes sense as it is a Taiwanese chain. Anyways, I will try this post back times and temps when I get it right. Thank you both JG sd and Jolenealaska. – justin May 26 '14 at 21:48
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This picture is from a menu online. Does this look like what you are trying to make?

beans

If so, I think you're right, they're just blanched and stir-fried with garlic. Be sure you're salting the blanching water, shock them in ice water and allow them to thoroughly drain. Mince a couple of cloves of garlic, stir-fry the garlic for several seconds in a small amount of hot, almost smoking neutral oil (peanut oil would be a good choice), add the beans and stir-fry until hot. Salt to taste. The picture doesn't look like it's anything more than that, but I haven't tried them. Are you picking up other flavors?

Community
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Jolenealaska
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  • Yeah, I've tried that but it just doesn't have the same crunch. I just read somewhere that they might be frying (in place of blanching) then stir-frying- would that make sense? – justin May 24 '14 at 19:27
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    If they are fried only, instead of blanched, I would expect to see some brownness and less vivid green. If you're not getting as much crunch as you want, I suspect that you are cooking them too long in the water. Bring a large pot of well salted water to a full boil, add the beans, stir for 30 seconds or *even less*. Drain and get them *right* into ice water. Is that close to what you have tried? Also, be sure that the stir-fry oil is very hot. – Jolenealaska May 24 '14 at 19:39
  • Yes, you have been very helpful, thank you. I'll try the quicker blanch this weekend. Here is the link I was talking about (with a picture) about 3/4 down the page: http://spencerhgray.com/2011/06/20/din-tai-fung-dumpling-paradise/ – justin May 24 '14 at 21:33
  • @justin The skin looks a bit more wrinkled in that picture than in mine but they still look too green to only be fried. In that picture they also look like they might be lightly glazed, perhaps with a small amount of honey or mirin. Do you taste any sweetness? Or sense any stickiness? – Jolenealaska May 24 '14 at 21:50
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I too have been looking for the recipe for string beans from din tai fung and although I haven't found the exact recipe, I figured more than half the battle was getting the right texture for the beans. Alas, I came across this blog which most closely resembles what we're looking for: http://userealbutter.com/2011/06/20/chinese-dry-cooked-string-beans-recipe/

The technique described there is to first wash, trim and pat dry the beans. Then they are deep fried in oil, uncrowded, 3-4 min per batch.

I know this post has been inactive for a while but I was so happy I found it that I wanted to share, as I am sure there are others searching for the same thing!

rumtscho
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Rebecca Lee
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  • Hello @Rebecca. Welcome to Seasoned Advice! – Cindy Nov 08 '14 at 16:38
  • Hello Rebecca, and welcome. We are glad that you are sharing this example with us. But links do become inaccessible over time, and our users like to know a bit more about the content before going to the other site. So, our rule is that we summarize the content of articles we find elsewhere in our own answer, pointing out the most important insights from there. For a short guide on posting on our site, you can see http://cooking.stackexchange.com/help/how-to-answer. – rumtscho Nov 08 '14 at 16:39
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They also use reduced chicken stock.

Dan
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    Could you elaborate? Do you mean the beans are blanced in reduced chicken stock? Or what do you mean? – Mien Mar 16 '16 at 10:09