Recipe #58: beef with green beans

We plant green beans every year. Because there is a large harvest every year, we can harvest them as soon as they're tender. These beans are delicious when sauteed, regardless of what other ingredients you use with them. Beef with green beans is the easiest to make, but it tastes extremely good. However, it's hard to find this dish even in restaurants, because it's hard to obtain beans that are so tender. Don't worry if you don't have any tender beans; the below sections contains a few tricks that will improve the texture.

Ingredients

1. 1 lb. green beans, trimmed
2. 3 oz. beef flanks
3. 2 tsp. soy sauce
4. 1 tsp. sesame oil + 1 tsp. oil (for marinating)
5. 1 Tbsp. oil (for stir-frying)
6. 1 tsp. cooking wine
7. pinch of sugar
8. 1 tsp. corn starch
9. salt to taste

Directions

1. Cut beans into halves of thirds, depending on length.
2. Cut the flanks against the grain and put into small bowl.
3. Mix all condiments (except salt) into bowl with beef.
4. If possible, marinate for at least 10 minutes to allow the flavor to go in.
5. Put oil into saucepan; when oil is warm, add beef and stir-fry. When beef is medium well, move beef back to bowl. When oil is still warm, add beans and stir-fry. If the beans are in season but not as tender as you expect, you 1 tsp. hot water along the side of the saucepan; the vapor will make the beans cook faster.
6. Add salt to taste.
7. Add beef back; stir-fry until beef is done and the beans contain the beef flavor.
8. If the dish is too dry, add 1 tsp. hot water to the marinating mixture and pour into saucepan, and stir. Serve hot.

Tips

1. If you like black pepper, you can add it to the marinating mixture.
2. If you are using beans bought during the winter, they will be a bit tough, in which case you can prepare a pot of boiling water. Cook the beans in the water briefly and drain with a strainer; this will make the beans more tender.