【不上亞洲超市】蒜燒四季豆/{Easy Chinese/Taiwanese Home Cooking}Pan-Friend Green beans

 








之前大言不慚地說用當地食材煮西式料理是適應力的展現。從另一個角度來看，其實許多中式料理也可以只運用米國超市可以取得的食材。今天就來分享一道簡易的四季豆料理。

我一向不是很愛炒四季豆，總覺得有很重去不掉的生菜味。唯一喜歡吃的四季豆料理，就是干煸四季豆了。不過米國超市能買的蔬菜種類很有限，老是烤來吃也吃膩了。偶然看到M Living的這道蒜燒四季豆食譜，基於好奇愛嘗鮮的本性，決定給這道菜一個機會。沒想到一試就愛上了！到目前為止大概是每個月都會煮一次的頻率，對我而言是相當高的重覆率呢。我也煮給馬克吃過，他也很喜歡（可能是其他兩道菜太不合他胃口）。

步驟我就不重複了，直接點連結到M Living的網站有很詳盡的說明，和非常可口的照片。最重要的是，這道菜一定要冷吃！那滋味真的完全不同！我喜歡起鍋前拌點我最愛的麻油，更添一層風味。但若嚴格限定不使用任何在亞洲超市取得的食材，那麼去掉麻油，仍是一道無往不利的中式料理喔！

In my previous post, I said that cooking western food is a way to demonstrate adaptability.  From another perspective, it also demonstrates adaptability by cooking Chinese/Taiwanese food using only ingredients found in the US grocery stores.  So I am going to share some recipes that meet the criteria.  The first one is an easy green bean dish.

Green beans are always not my favorite.  To me it has a strong raw vegetable smell.  The only green beans dish that I like is dried fried green beans.  However, I don't always have dried shrimps or ground pork at hand, and hence I seldom cook this.  What can I do with green beans, the most common vegetable that can be found in every grocery store?  Then I found the super easy recipe, which requires the only six ingredients.  Since then I am in love with it.

Ingredients
2 tbs Oil
10 ounces Green beans
3 - 4 cloves whole Garlic
pinch of brown sugar
salt to taste
1/3 cup of water

Directions
1. Heat the oil in a pan.  When the oil is hot, stir in the green beans.  Cook until the skins of the green beans are brown and crinkle, about 10-15 minutes.
2. Add garlic and cook until you can smell it.  Stir in sugar and salt.
3. Add water.  Cover and let it sit for a while, about 10 minutes.  The green beans are done when there is almost no water in the pan.
4. Put the green beans in a plate and then leave it in the refrigerator for at last 40 minutes, or until it is complete cool.  Serve cold.

Yes, serve cold.  The flavor is different when it is cold.  Usually I add some sesame oil at the end of step 3.  It gives the dish more flavor, and I always love sesame oil.  You can easily adjust the portion of the ingredients based on how much garlic flavor you like, and how salty you prefer.  Also the cooking time changes a bit depends on the green beans.

I made Mark this dish once, and he liked it.  Hope you enjoy this as well!