Well, pork and green bean stir-fry was a good way to use up leftover pork and green beans. The great thing about stir-fries is that you can just use whichever random ingredients need to be used up.
This stir-fry would’ve been awesome with lo mein noodles or egg noodles, but I didn’t have any of those. I had bean thread/glass noodles to use up, and those were fine. Any noodles or pasta you have in the pantry will work fine here.
Stir-fries are highly versatile. You could easily substitute ground chicken or ground beef, and any kind of vegetable you happen you have in your fridge.
I’m sure this stir fry would also be very good served over rice.
A few notes on Chinese pantry ingredients:
- Shaoxing wine is key to making a lot of food taste “legit,” but dry sherry, or any other rice wine will make a good substitute. Find Shaoxing wine in your local Asian supermarket.
- Low-sodium soy sauce is always the heart-healthy choice.
- Dark soy sauce is more syrupy and molasses-y than regular soy sauce. Use it sparingly. Find it in your local Asian grocery store with all the other soy sauces.
- Most supermarkets carry sesame oil in the “Asian” section.
- Your local Asian grocery store probably sells glass noodles. They are also called “bean thread noodles” or “cellophane” noodles. We love them because they tend to absorb sauce like little sponges!
Pork & Green Bean Stir Fry With Glass Noodles
Servings: 4
Calories: 315kcal
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon canola oil (or other neutral-flavored oil)
- 1 pound green beans (chopped)
- 4 cloves garlic (minced)
- 2 tablespoon water
- 4 ounces glass noodles
- 8 ounces ground pork
Pork marinade:
- 2 tablespoon grated fresh ginger root
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine (dry sherry also works)
- 1 tablespoon water
- ½ tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon sugar
Stir fry sauce:
- ½ tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon dark soy sauce
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
Instructions
- Stir together the ground pork and the pork marinade ingredients in a medium bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow it to marinate in the fridge while you prep the rest of the meal (about 15-20 minutes)
- Mix together the stir fry sauce ingredients in a small bowl; set aside.
- Cut up the green beans and mince the garlic.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil. Soak the bean thread noodles in the water as you prepare the rest of the meal — there's no need to boil them; just turn the heat off and allow the noodles to soak in the hot water.
- Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the green beans to the skillet, put the lid on, and allow the green beans to cook for about 3 minutes.
- Add the garlic to the skillet and stir-fry with the garlic for 1 minute.
- Add 2 tablespoons of water to the skillet, put the lid back on, and allow the green beans to steam for about 5 more minutes, until they turn tender.
- Remove the green beans and garlic to a plate.
- Lightly spray the same skillet with nonstick spray. Cook the pork over medium heat until the pork is no longer pink. You don't need to stir-fry the pork constantly; allow it to sit in the pan and brown up a bit before stirring with a spatula.
- When the pork is ready, add the green beans, bean thread noodles and stir-fry sauce to the skillet. Stir it around until the ingredients are well-blended.
