Yard Long Beans Stir Fry with Ground Pork

This Yard Long Beans Stir Fry with Ground Pork is sweet, spicy, and packed with savory umami. The sweetness of the Thai basil and spice of the Thai chilis combine for a harmonious and addicting flavor!

Chinese Yard Long Beans are such beautiful and interesting vegetables. Although they’re called yard long beans, most you’ll find range from about 15-20 inches in length. They provide many health benefits and are a great source of Vitamin A, iron, and manganese just to name a few. The best way to cook yard long beans is in a stir fry–it provides a quick blast of heat resulting in a firmer texture than if you were to steam or slow cook. They aren’t as firm and fleshy as the type of string or snap beans used commonly in the US so you’d much rather lean on the side of undercooking them than overcooking.

Yard long beans come in two colors: green and purple. I’ve heard the green ones cook down with a slightly better texture and sweetness, but I opted to grow the “Red Noodle” beans this year, and they do not disappoint!

How to Choose Yard Long Beans

To find the best beans, just squeeze the bean pod and make sure it feels crisp and firm. If yard long beans are left to mature too long, the texture of the outer skin starts to become soft and dry. You’ll notice bumps where the beans have become too large and the loose air pockets in the pods which indicate a drier skin.

If you don’t plan on cooking them right away, place them in the fridge to maintain the crisp freshness. A storage bag or container would be optimal.

How to Cook Yard Long Beans Stir Fry

Stir fry requires one truly simple thing: high heat. It should only take a few minutes to cook a stir fry as you’re either: a). allowing the ingredients to keep some of their raw crunch or b). you’ve already blanched or par boiled the ingredients to achieve the desired texture. For this recipe, we toss the beans into the stir fry raw since they cook down so quickly. In either case, you will want to have everything prepared before you go to cook.

There are basically 5 steps to this Chinese yard long bean recipe:

1. Heat the wok or pan up to high heat and cook the ground pork until slightly browned. Feel free to use whatever protein you prefer here!
2. Toss in the yard long beans for 1-2 minutes. Add in some optional Kaffir lime leaf shreds for some added citrus flavor.
3. Add in the garlic and toss around before adding in the sauce mixture (soy sauce, oyster sauce, black vinegar, and chili garlic sauce).
4. Cook for 1 minute and toss in the Thai basil leaves and optional Thai chilis.
5. Serve with a hot bowl of steamed white rice.

If you like this recipe, be sure to check out the Shishito Pepper Steak or Spicy Tuna Salad Onigiri!

Print Recipe

Chinese Yard Long Beans Stir Fry with Ground Pork

Dinner, Main Dish – Chinese, Asian

By Katelyn Bailey – Serves: 2

Prep Time: 7 minutes – Cooking Time: 5 minutes – Total Time: 12 minutes

This Yard Long Bean Stir Fry is super simple and takes less than 15 minutes to prepare. It's packed with delicious umami with a harmonious sweetness from the Thai basil and heat from Thai chilis. Serve with a warm bowl of white rice.

Ingredients

• 1 cup ground pork
• 1 1/2 cups chopped yard long beans (~1/4-1/3 inch long)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 Kaffir lime leaf cut into thin shreds *optional
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 1/2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon black vinegar (or rice wine vinegar)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon chili garlic sauce
• 1 handful or about 1/3 cup of Thai basil leaves

Instructions

1

First make the sauce by combining the soy sauce, oyster sauce, black vinegar, and chili garlic sauce.

2

Then, mince the garlic and chop the onion. Also chop the beans into 1/4-1/3 inch pieces . Set aside.

3

Heat the wok or pan up to high heat (smoking point) and cook the ground pork until slightly browned--about 2-3 minutes.

4

Add in the yard long beans and onion. Toss for 1-2 minutes.

5

Add in optional Kaffir lime leaf shreds and the garlic. Toss for about 1 minute.

6

Pour in the sauce mixture.

7

Cook for 1 minute and toss in the Thai basil leaves and optional Thai chilis.

8

Serve with a hot bowl of steamed white rice.

Nutrition

• 524 Calories
• 8g Carbohydrates
• 248mg Cholesterol
• 12.2g Fat
• 2.4g Fiber
• 91g Protein
• 4.1g Saturated fat
• 753mg Sodium
• 1.7g Sugar

Notes

As stated above, you can use any protein of your choice in this recipe; minced beef, chicken, turkey, Beyond Meat, shrimp, etc.