STEWED BEANS & POTATO

• doses: SERVES 6

Ingredientes

1 pound (450 grams) broad string beans, such as romano beans

A cup vegetable oil

1 large green onion or 3 scallions, both white and green parts, thinly sliced

1 (2-inch) piece (15 grams) fresh ginger, thinly sliced

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced 1 star anise pod

10 ounces (280 grams) russet potatoes, peeled and cut into %-inch chunks

1½ cups (360 mL) unsalted stock of any kind or water

1 tablespoon soy sauce

4 teaspoon MSG

V2 teasp0on five-spice powder Kosher salt

Instruções

serve.

Snap off the ends of the beans, carefully pulling the tough strings to remove them on both sides. Cut the beans into 3-inch pieces.

Heat the oil in a wok over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the string beans and stir-fry until blistered and vibrant green, about 1 minute. Remove the beans from the wok using a skimmer or spider and set aside. Add the green onion, ginger, garlic, and star anise to the wok and stir-fry for 1 to 2 minutes, until the onion is softened and the spices are fragrant.

Add the potatoes and stir to coat. Add the stock, soy sauce, MSG, and five-spice powder. Add the stir-fried beans. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, partially cover the wok, and simmer gently for 15 to 20 minutes, until the potatoes are tender and beans are very soft. Taste and season with salt as needed. Transfer to a large bowl and

Notas

This is one of my favorite northeast dishes, and I always request it whenever I visit home. I'd unfold myself by the kitchen island, warm-

ing my bare feet on the floor grate of the heating vent and chattering on about my senester as my mom tended the pot of tender flaat beans with chunks of potato simmering inside. When the stew was done. she would set the entire pot down on the table, not wanting to wash an additional serving dish. It was a honmey mess of cooked1-down veg etables, but the buttery, meaty beans and starchy potatoes were fra- grant with spices and darkened with soy sauce, and with nabowl of rice

in my hand, nothing could tear me away.

In northeastern China, they use "greasy beans" ( IA yudòu-

iao) These are wider and flatter than green beans, with glossy wid pods tinted with reddish or purple streaks, and the meaty beans e withstand long cooking times without disintegrating. You can fpd them in Asian supermarkets, or look for wide Italian or romano gree beans, often available in farmers' markets.