Fake-Out Take-Out

Instead of springing for take-out the other night, I decided to  make my own version at home.

I had a bunch of string beans in my fridge, and this is my favorite way to cook them. I didn't do a very good job taking notes or measurements on this one, so I'll just give you the gist. Next time I cook them I'll pay closer attention so I can give you a recipe!

First, I cleaned and trimmed up the beans. I like to keep them long, but I prefer to cut them in half length-wise.

This is pretty tedious because you basically have to cut one bean at a time, but I think it's worth it. When they're whole it seems like they get "squeaky"...do you know what I mean? Like they literally squeak on your teeth when you bite through them.

I've found that you can get a good sear cutting them this way. Maybe because they don't trap steam inside, and the sugars are exposed so they can caramelize?? (I don't really know what I'm talking about here. This is what Kate & I fondly refer to as "fake science". )

Anyway, if you're up for it, do it. And let me know if you think I'm crazy.

Then I tossed the beans in a hot wok with a tablespoon or so of water and covered it to steam. I only left them in there for a couple of minutes, until they were bright green but still crunchy.

After removing them I immediately ran them under cold water to shock them, or stop the cooking process.

I mixed up a sauce using sugar, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and crushed red pepper flakes.

I poured this into the hot wok to let the garlic cook for a few seconds (it burns so quickly, be careful!) before adding the beans.

Then I stir-fried them for a few minutes until they had seared and gotten sticky with the sauce. Yum!

To go with the green beans, I cooked up the last of our frozen dumplings. Since I already had the wok heated, I cooked them pot-sticker style, and they turned out great.

Chinese "take-out" for 2!

Complete with fortune cookies.