The first time I ever had green beans cooked this way was in a restaurant in New York’s Chinatown where you had to wait in line for over an hour for a table. This recipe may be a no-brainer for many subscribers, but if you’ve never tried making it at home, it is easy and quick. And delicious.
Trim 1/2 lb. green beans and cut into 1 inch pieces. Bring salted water to a boil in a pot. Fill a second pot with cold water and place in the fridge or add ice cubes.
Boil the green beans for 4 minutes or less — they should be bright green and still crisp but tender. Remove from the pot and drop directly into the cold water, then transfer to a colander or towel.
Mince fresh ginger to make 1 T. Mince 1 large clove of garlic.
Heat 1 T. canola or other high heat oil in a wok. Add the beans, the ginger and the garlic and cook until the garlic soft and beginning to brown. Sprinkle with salt and serve.
You can make this dish more substantial too: crumble 12 oz. firm tofu and drizzle with 1 T. soy sauce and 1 t. sesame oil. Marinate for 10 minutes, then stir fry in a wok until the liquid cooks out of the tofu and it is nicely browned.
Add the cooked tofu to the beans just before removing from heat.