Cold Spiced French Beans

Lotus leaves are frequently used to wrap food for cooking (like oil). During the long steaming process the contents of the package become imbued with the aromatic flavour of the dried lotus leaves. the packages are brought to the table and each person unwraps his own, eating the contents from the leaves with chopsticks (the leaves are then discarded).

Cold Spiced French Beans ()
    Materials:
    225 g (8 oz) French beans
    1 1/2 teaspoons salt
    2.5 cm (1 inch) piece root ginger, peeled and finely chopped
    1 dried chilli, finely chopped
    1 teaspoon Szechuan or black peppercorns
    25 g (1 oz) sugar
    2 tablespoons wine vinegar
    Preparation time: 15 minutes, plus soaking and chilling
    Cooking time: 10 minutes
1. Top and tail the beans, string them, then cut in half. Blanch the beans and refresh under cold, running water. Add the salt and leave them to saok in a large bowl for 20 minutes.

2. Drain the beans and arrange on a serving dish. Mix the ginger and chilli together in a bowl.

3. Heat the wok and dry-fry the Szchuan peppercorns until fragrant. Pour in the sesame oil, then the chopped dried chilli, sugar and vinegar, and fry together for 30 seconds. Pour the hot mixture over the ginger and chilli, mix together and pour over the beans. Toss well, then chill before serving.


<>   Xiaoniu SuChu Hsu (¤p¤û) 1998    suchu@techart.nia.edu.tw