I’m not immune to the charms of kung pao chicken or mapo tofu, but when I’m scanning a Sichuan restaurant menu, gan bian si ji dou are my quarry. Unlike the crisp, steamed green beans I grew up on, these are chewy and deeply satisfying, cooked to the point that their crunch collapses into a meaty density. They’re coated not in a sauce but in a light savory stickiness that captures crumbles of fried pork and aromatics.
The first step when making them
