Pickled Greens & Beans (酸菜豆米)

A classic from the Guizhou province, and a dish we're sort of obsessed with.

Braised Version

Note, if subbing in Bacon: in place of the below smoked larou and lard combination, you can also start this with some American style bacon. To do so, slice one strip of bacon into ~2 cm pieces. Render out the bacon grease over a medium low flame, supplement with extra oil if need be.

Note, if adjusting for a pressure cooker: If you own a pressure cooker, simply use that instead of the soaking and simmering the beans. I believe that this amount of beans should use about a half a liter of water and take ~30 minutes, but do do your own homework there (we do not own a pressure cooker and the below recipe hasn’t been tested with one).

Ingredients:

• Dried pinto beans (红豆) or kidney beans (腰豆), 110g. From the cooked beans, we’ll mash ~1/10 of them and reserve, as well as also reserving 1.25 cups of the cooking liquid.

• Chinese pickled mustard greens (酸菜), 100g. Minced.

• Optional: Smoked Larou (烟熏腊肉/湖南腊肉), 15g. See note above if substituting for bacon.

• Aromatics:

  Garlic, 4 cloves. Smashed.

  Ginger (姜), ~1 inch. Smashed.

  Scallions, 1. White and green part separated, white part roughly smashed and greens sliced.

• Spicy dried chilis, e.g. Heaven facing or Thai bird’s eye, ~3. Halved.

• Lard (preferably), or oil, ~3.5 tbsp. ~2 tbsp for frying the aromatics, additional ~1.5 tbsp for frying the mashed beans. See note above if substituting in bacon.

• Baijiu (白酒) or Shaoxing wine (料酒/绍酒), 1 tbsp

• Soy sauce (生抽), ½ tbsp.

• Ingredients to season the cooking liquid:

  Salt, ¼ tsp;

  Sugar, ¼ tsp;

  Chicken bouillon powder (鸡粉), ¼ tsp

• Final seasoning:

  MSG (味精), ¼ tsp;

  Dark Chinese vinegar (香醋/), ¼ tsp;

  White pepper powder, a sprinkle, ~1/16 tsp

Process:

To cook the beans:

Rinse 110g of beans and soak them with cool water overnight. The following day, simmer – covered – over a medium-low flame for 60-90 minutes, or until the beans are soft.

Strain, and reserve 1.25 cups of the bean cooking liquid. Remove about a tenth of the beans, smash them, and reserve.

To prepare for the braise:

Mince 100g of pickled mustard greens. Slice 15g of smoked Larou, if using. Smash four cloves of garlic and one inch of ginger. Separate the whites from the greens from one scallion; roughly smash the white part and slice the green part. Snip the stems off of three spicy chilis and discard, then slice in half.

To braise:

To a wok – as always, first longyau: get the wok piping hot, add in two tablespoons of lard, give it a swirl. Over a medium-low flame, fry the larou for 1-2 minutes to flavor the oil, then scooch it up the side of the wok. Add in the garlic, ginger, and scallion whites, and up the flame to high. Stir fry for ~15 seconds, until fragrant. Add the chilis, quick mix. Swirl ~1 tbsp of baijiu or Shaoxing wine over the spatula and around the sides of the wok, quick mix.

Flame still on high, add in the pickled mustard greens. Fry for ~2 minutes, or until fragrant and the greens begin to ‘pop’. Lower the flame to medium-low, scooch everything up the side of the wok.

Add in an additional 1.5 tbsp of oil, and to that add in the mashed beans. Fry it together in the oil for ~1 minute, or until it begins to vaguely resemble a roux. Swap the flame back to high.

Add in the cooked beans, gently mix for ~30 seconds with everything. Swirl in one tablespoons soy sauce. Add in the reserved bean cooking liquid, together with the “ingredients to season the cooking liquid” - i.e. ¼ tsp each salt, sugar, and chicken bouillon powder. Cover (lid ajar if it’s a heavy/tight fitting lid), simmer over medium for ~8 minutes.

After that time, remove any aromatics you do not want in the final dish (we remove the ginger and the scallion whites). Optionally, swap over a high flame, and reduce to your desired consistency – we reduced for 3-4 minutes.

Add the “final seasoning” - i.e. ¼ tsp MSG, ¼ tsp dark Chinese vinegar, ~1/16 tsp white pepper powder. Add in the sliced scallion greens. Heat off, quick mix, out.

Crispy Deep Fried Version

Ingredients:

• Dried pinto beans (红豆) or kidney beans (腰豆), 110g

• Chinese pickled mustard greens (酸菜), 100g. Minced.

• Aromatics:

  Garlic, 2 cloves. Sliced.

  Scallion, 1. White and green part separated, both sliced.

  Spicy dried chilis, e.g. Heaven facing or Thai bird’s eye, ~3. Cut into ~1cm sections.

• To coat the beans:

  Cornstarch (生粉), 2-3 tbsp

  Salt, ⅛ tsp

• Seasoning:

  Salt, ¼ tsp;

  Sugar, ¼ tsp;

  MSG (味精), ¼ tsp

• Soy sauce (生抽), 1 tsp

• Five spice powder (五香粉), ¼ tsp

Process:

To cook the beans:

Rinse the beans and soak them with cool water overnight. The following day, simmer – covered – over a medium-low flame for 60-90 minutes, or until the beans are soft. Strain, and lay the beans out on a paper towel to dry (we dried 30 minutes).

To prep:

Mince 100g of pickled mustard greens. Slice two cloves of garlic. Separate the white and the green of the scallion, slicing each. Cut the chilis into ~1cm sections.

Coat the beans with ⅛ tsp salt and 2-3 tbsp of starch. The beans should feel ‘dry’.

To deep fry the beans:

Get a pot of oil up to 150C, then add in the coated beans. Deep fry for ~7 minutes, or until the oil's reached back up to ~140C. Remove, lay on a paper towel lined plate.

To stir fry:

Heat a dry, oil-less wok up over a medium high flame. Once hot, add in the minced pickled mustard greens.

Toast it on high for about the two minutes or until it begins to ‘pop’, and remove.

Add in a tablespoon of oil, give it a swirl, and go in with the garlic and the scallion whites. Fry for ~15 seconds until fragrant, then add the spicy dried chili sections.

Another brief mix, then add in the fried beans. Mix, then add back in the mustard greens. Then, add in your seasoning – quarter teaspoon each salt, sugar, and MSG – and give that all another good mix.

Swirl about a teaspoon of soy sauce over your spatula and around the sides of the wok, quick fry, then toss in a quarter teaspoon five spice powder together with the chopped scallion greens.