Stir-Fried Green Beans with Dried Shrimp
Stir-Fried Green Beans with Dried Shrimp is a delicious savory side dish recipe with a shortlist of ingredients. It is a super easy and quick stir-fry recipe that you can make on any weeknight dinner and your family will love it.
This Stir-Fried Green Beans with Dried Shrimp seriously tastes better than takeout. The green beans are crunchy and sweet, enhanced by the umami taste of the dried shrimp. It is flavorful and has a low-mild spiciness from red chilis.
All you need is a pile of fresh green beans, dried shrimp, garlic, shallots, red chilis, and oyster sauce. That’s it! You will fall in love with just how easy and quick they are to make! Don’t forget to serve it with some rice.
It is a life-essential recipe that will serve you well for the rest of your days. It’s addictively delicious and will be soon your favorite.
Ingredients
- Green beans – Choose young green beans which are tender and more flavorful. If using mature tougher green beans, you will need to remove the fibrous string that runs along the length of the pod before cooking.
- Dried shrimps – Dried shrimps are shrimp that have been sun-dried and shrunk to a thumbnail size. They taste salty and impart a unique umami taste to the dish.
- Garlic – For aromatic flavor and aroma.
- Shallots – Shallots used in Southeast Asian cuisine tend to be small with a red exterior and white interior. Unlike western shallots which tend to be larger, Indonesian shallots are small and sweeter in flavor. The individual cloves resemble garlic cloves with pointed tapered ends.
- Curly red chilis – They are considered a medium spicy level in Indonesian cooking. You can substitute some with bird’s eye chilis if you prefer more spiciness.
- Seasonings. Oyster sauce, granulated sugar, and chicken bouillon powder if preferred.
What to Serve with This Recipe
This Stir-Fried Green Beans with Dried Shrimp is pretty salty when eaten on its own. Therefore, it is best to serve this with steamed rice to neutralize the flavor. This dish is good enough to serve as a main dish for a quick dinner. You can also serve it as a side dish with other meat and seafood dishes.
How to Make Stir-Fried Green Beans with Dried Shrimp
- Rehydrate dried shrimp with hot water for 15 minutes. Drain the water before using.
- Trim the green beans. Cut into 2-3 inch lengths.
- In a food processor, add garlic, shallots, curly red chilis, and rehydrated dried shrimp. Pulse a few times until they are roughly chopped. Or mince them if you don’t have a food processor at home.
- In a frying pan, heat oil on medium heat. Add the blended spices. Stir-fry for 2-3 minutes until they are fragrant and golden brown.
- Add green beans, hot water, oyster sauce, sugar, and chicken bouillon powder.
- Stir-fry until the water has evaporated. Turn off the heat and serve.
Cooking Tips
- Use young green beans – They are more tender and flavorful.
- Wash the dried shrimp if you prefer a less salty dish – After you soak the dried shrimp in hot water to rehydrate, discard the water, and rinse the shrimp to reduce their saltiness.
- Pulse, don’t blend –Pulse instead of blending the garlic, shallots, curly red chilis, and dried shrimp. This will add a nice texture to the dish.
- Chop with a knife if you don’t have a food processor – Yes, you can mince the garlic, shallots, curly red chilis, and dried shrimp with a knife.
- Add hot water – Adding water will prevent the spices from burning when the green beans are cooking. It will help the green beans to cook thoroughly and evenly. Make sure you add hot water instead of cold water to prevent the green beans from getting soggy.
Stir Fried Green Beans with Dried Shrimp
Ingredients
- 9 oz (250 gr) green beans, trimmed, cut into 2-3 inch/5-7.5 cm pieces
- 1/4 cup (25 gr) dried shrimp
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 4 shallots
- 4 curly red chilis
- 1/3 cup (80 ml) hot water
- 1/2 tsp chicken bouillon powder, optional
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
- 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
Instructions
- Soak the dried shrimp in hot water for 15 minutes to rehydrate them. Strain and discard the water before using them. The shrimp are pretty salty, you can rinse them with water if you prefer them less salty.
- Blend spices and dried shrimp – In a food processor, add garlic, shallots, curly red chilis, and rehydrated dried shrimp. Pulse them a few times until roughly chopped. Don't blend them too long or they will turn into a mushy paste. You can also mince them with a knife if you don't have a food processor.
- Cook the spices – In a big frying pan, heat oil on medium heat. Add the shrimp mixture and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes until golden brown.
- Add green beans and seasonings – Add the green beans, hot water, chicken bouillon powder, granulated sugar, and oyster sauce. Stir-fry until the water has evaporated. Turn off the heat and serve.
