🥔 SIDE
Gan Bian Si Ji Dou (Sichuan Dry-Fried Green Beans)
Green beans fried until blistered, wrinkled and scorched in spots, then tossed with a little minced pork, preserved mustard greens, dried chillies, Sichuan pepper, garlic and ginger.
Chinese (Sichuan) · medium · serves 4
prep 15 min · cook 20 min
~239 cal · 10g protein · 10g carbs · 18g fat · 3g fiber · 4g sugars · 3g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Gan bian si ji dou means dry-fried four-seasons beans, the Chinese name for green beans, and it is one of the best-known home-style dishes of Sichuan. Gan bian, dry-frying, is a Sichuan technique: an ingredient is cooked in a little oil in the wok over steady heat, without any sauce, until its moisture is driven off and its surface wrinkles, chars and concentrates in flavour.
The beans are fried first, on their own, until blistered and slightly shrunken. The wok is then emptied of all but a spoonful of oil, and in go Sichuan peppercorns, dried chillies, garlic and ginger, a small amount of minced pork and a spoonful of ya cai, the sweet-salty preserved mustard greens of Yibin. The beans go back in with a splash of Shaoxing wine and soy, and everything is tossed until dry again.
The pork is a seasoning here rather than the point, and the dish sits on the table as one vegetable plate among several, eaten with rice alongside something or saucy.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally dairy-, nut- and egg-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
- 450 g green beans, trimmed and cut into 7 cm lengths
- 1/4 cup
- 2 tsp Sichuan peppercorns
- 4 dried red chillies, seeded and cut into pieces
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
- 115 g minced pork
- 2 tbsp ya cai (Sichuan preserved mustard greens)Hard to find? 1 tbsp finely chopped Tianjin preserved vegetable, rinsed - saltier and more garlicky, and without ya cai's sweetness
- 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1/4 tsp sugar
- to taste salt
Instructions
- 1Wash the beans and dry them completely with a towel.✎ Chef’s noteWet beans spit violently in hot oil and steam instead of blistering.
- 2Heat the oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Fry the beans in two batches, stirring and turning now and then, for 5 to 6 minutes each, until the skins are wrinkled and scorched in spots. Lift them out.
- 3Pour off all but 1 tbsp of the oil. Turn the heat to low, add the Sichuan peppercorns and dried chillies and stir for about 1 minute, until fragrant but not burnt, then add the garlic and ginger for a few seconds.
- 4Turn the heat up to high, add the pork and ya cai and stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes, breaking up the meat, until it is browned and a little crisp.
- 5Return the beans with the Shaoxing wine, soy sauce and sugar and toss over high heat for 1 to 2 minutes, until any liquid has evaporated and everything is dry and fragrant. Taste for salt and serve with rice.
Sichuan home-style cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Sichuan. Mapo tofu has an address and a date: a shop in Chengdu trading since 1862, whose proprietor's pockmarked face gave the dish its name. Hotpot works on a different principle entirely, a communal cauldron of chilli and tallow into which each person cooks their own tripe, bamboo and duck blood, and the numbing builds through the meal rather than hitting at the start.
🗺️
China. China holds eight great regional cuisines within one border, the fire of Sichuan, the delicacy of Cantonese dim sum, the wheat noodles of the north, and more. Techniques like stir-frying, steaming, and braising, plus soy, ginger, and rice wine, unify an endlessly diverse table.
🌍
Asia. Fermentation is the thread that runs the whole way across: soy sauce and miso, Korean doenjang and kimchi, Southeast Asian fish sauces, the soured batter behind an idli. Chilli is the newcomer among them, arriving only after 1500 with Portuguese and Spanish traders, which makes the heat in Sichuan, Thai and Korean cooking far younger than the fermenting underneath it.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from China
Mapo TofuSilken tofu in a glowing, numbing-hot chili bean sauce, Chengdu’s most famous export.
Char Siu (Cantonese BBQ Pork)Lacquered, honey-glossed barbecue pork with burnished edges, Guangdong’s roast-shop crown jewel, oven-adapted.
Dapanji (Big Plate Chicken)A heroic platter of chicken, potatoes, and peppers in a star-anise chili sauce, with wide noodles for the gravy.
Browse all China recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Wok.
Storing it: Fried food is best eaten fresh while crisp. Re-crisp leftovers in a hot oven or air fryer; the microwave makes them soft.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Gan Bian Si Ji Dou (Sichuan Dry-Fried Green Beans)?
Green beans fried until blistered, wrinkled and scorched in spots, then tossed with a little minced pork, preserved mustard greens, dried chillies, Sichuan pepper, garlic and ginger.
Where does Gan Bian Si Ji Dou (Sichuan Dry-Fried Green Beans) come from?
Gan Bian Si Ji Dou (Sichuan Dry-Fried Green Beans) is a Chinese (Sichuan) dish from Sichuan, China.
Can Gan Bian Si Ji Dou (Sichuan Dry-Fried Green Beans) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Gan Bian Si Ji Dou (Sichuan Dry-Fried Green Beans) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Gan Bian Si Ji Dou (Sichuan Dry-Fried Green Beans) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Gan Bian Si Ji Dou (Sichuan Dry-Fried Green Beans) take to make?
About 35 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 20 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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