Burmese wok-fried green beans

This is a very traditional Burmese recipe made super fast in a searing hot wok. These beans are wonderful and can be prepared in under 5 minutes.

The trick to making these beans is to fry them at a very high temperature, so the outsides are charred, but the insides of the beans still maintain their crunch. The combination of charred and crunchy is the magic formula. This is a simple recipe, and you can omit the shrimp to create a vegan and vegetarian version. The crunchy beans have a charred and salty flavour from the soy sauce, simple and yet so delicious.

I recently purchased this book, which I enjoy reading and cooking from. The renowned Rangoon sisters, Amy and Emily, have gained fame in London for their exceptional Burmese cuisine and innovative pop-up restaurant cooking. This cookbook is a collection of fabulous recipes, and I will definitely cook from it often.

For more recipes from this wonderful cookbook, click here.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon peanut oil or other oil

1-2 dried shrimp (optional)

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

4-5 oz. green beans, the ends trimmed and left whole

1 teaspoon soy sauce

Heat a wok with the oil until it shimmers and add the dried shrimp, if using, and garlic. Stir-fry for 10 seconds and add the green beans. Toss the beans well and sear on high heat till the beans are charred on the outside in spots. You want to cook on high heat so that the outside chars, and the inside of the beans are still crunchy for about 2-3 minutes.

Add the soy sauce and toss until well combined. Careful, it will splatter. The soy sauce will adhere to the hot beans and dry out in about 10 seconds. Remove from the heat and serve immediately.