Stir Fried Green Beans with Pork and Garlic

Stir Fried Green Beans with Pork and Garlic

All quantities are approximate.
½ pound ground pork
½ pound green beans
5 or 10 dried shiitake mushrooms – soaked, stems trimmed and sliced thick
three cloves garlic – chopped fine
1 or 2 TBS. Chili paste/Sambal Oelek - according to taste
S & P

Sauce:
1 TBS. cornstarch
¼ cup mushroom liquid
1/3 cup chicken broth or water
1 Tbs. soy sauce

water as needed

Soak the mushrooms overnight. When ready to use squeeze the liquid out of the mushrooms and use it in the sauce. Make the sauce and set it aside. The cornstarch will not stay in solution so stir well immediately before using.

Have all the ingredients ready to use before you start cooking.
In a hot wok or big pan brown the pork, season it with salt and pepper and brown it good. Don’t just turn it gray. Add the garlic, mushrooms and beans. Stir fry over high heat for 5 to 7 minutes. Keep it moving to prevent burning.
Add the chili paste, it will hit your nose as soon as it hits the heat. Don’t be alarmed, the sensation won't last.
Stir that in for a couple of minutes. Stir the sauce and add that. It should thicken right away. If it’s too thick dilute it with some water. Easy does it. It shouldn't be soupy. It should be more like a glaze. Lower the heat to medium and cook another couple of minutes. Taste it.
Serve right away, with or without rice, and if your wife works late and then goes to get a Christmas tree and you don’t eat until 8:00 it can sit out for a while and it will be quite good cold.
The mushrooms, good Wadakan Soy Sauce and Sambal Oelek are all available at Super 88 Market in several greater Boston locations.