Chinese green bean recipe

How to Prepare / Make / Cook - ?Chinese green bean recipe

The leafy greens and stems of the snow cabbage (page 25) are chopped and pickled in brine for a handy ingredient. It is especially popular in the provinces of Zhejiang and jiangsu. My father was from the former and my mother grew up in the latter, so it’s no wonder that cans of snow cabbage were always kept in the pantry.

You may substitute shredded lean pork for the chicken as well as rice sticks for the wheat noodles.

½ pound Chinese dried noodles, thin spaghetti, or vermicelli
¼ pound chicken breast, shredded (page 44)
1 teaspoon dry sherry
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon canola, corn, or peanut oil
1 slice unpeeled gingerroot, 1 X 1/8 inch
½ cup canned shredded bamboo shoots, drained
½ cup snow cabbage, drained
4 ½ cups Chinese chicken Broth (page 64) plus 1 ¼ teaspoons salt or
1(13 ¾ -ounce) can chicken broth and enough water to make 4 ½ cups

1. Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot. Add the noodles and cook until a little more tender than al dente, but not soft. Stir occasionally to keep the noodles from sticking together. When done, drain, rinse thoroughly with cold water, and drain well. Set aside.

2.While the noodles are cooking, mixture the chicken with the sherry and cornstarch in a small bowl. Set aside.

3. Pour the oil into a wok or stir-fry pan and place the pan over medium-high heat. Add the gingerroot and stir until it sizzles and becomes fragrant. Stir up the chicken mixture again. Add and cook for about 1 minute, or until the meat has turned white. Add the bamboo shoots and snow cabbage, stir about 30 seconds, and pour in the chicken broth. Bring the liquid to a boil. Taste and add salt if desired.

4. When ready to serve, add the noodles to the boiling soup and cook just until they are heated through. Divide the noodles evenly among individual soup bowls. Ladle the soup with pieces of meat and vegetable into each bowl. There should be enough soup to come up to the level of the noodles, but not submerge them. Serve hot.

Variation Substitute shredded lean pork for the chicken as well as thin dried rice noodles-also called rice sticks-for the wheat noodles. Soak the rice sticks in warm water until they are tender, then add them to the boiling broth in step 3 and heat through.