Szechuan Rice and Beans

I had seconds.

I saw this video on Yeung Man Cooking for rice and black beans, Chinese style, and I was intrigued because I've never had such a thing. I had most of the ingredients, or at least suitable substitutions for the ingredients, with the exception of the doubanjiang. Now I have a jar of that, so more Szechuan-style recipes may be in my future.

My changes to the original recipe: I used jalapenos instead of the fresno pepper, I used regular soy sauce instead of the dark soy sauce, and I used avocado oil plus a but of chili crisp instead of chili oil. I may get some chili oil in the future, because I imagine that that would give it a different flavor. I added a splash of chinese cooking wine because I felt like it needed a tiny bit of sweetness and acidity, which I think was a good move. I also doubled the recipe, more or less.

The Recipe:

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 inch ginger, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

2 jalapeno peppers or fresno peppers, seeds removed and minced

3 Japanese eggplant, chopped

4 oyster mushrooms, cubed

6 green onions, chopped

1 cup dried black beans, soaked and cooked (or 2 cans, drained and rinsed)

4 tb chili oil (or avocado oil plus chili crisp)

4 tb doubanjiang

4 tsp soy sauce

1 tb chinese cooking wine

2 c vegetable stock

2 tb corn starch + 3 tb water, mixed into a slurry

jasmine rice, for serving

toasted sesame seeds, for serving

Heat the chili oil (or the oil and chilies) over medium heat
Add the onions and pepper, and saute for 5-6 minutes
Add the garlic, ginger, eggplant, and mushrooms. Saute for another 10 minutes.
Add doubanjiang and stir
Add black beans, soy sauce, and cooking wine, and stir
Add vegetable stock and corn starch+water slurry. Cook, stirring, until thickened.
Mix in half of the green onions
Serve with rice, with extra green onions and sesame seeds on top

The Verdict:

Overall grade: A

Overall reason: Healthy and delicious, and uses largely pantry ingredients

Time to prepare: 30 minutes, plus cooking the beans

Husband quote: "I heard you like beans so we put beans in your beans so you can eat beans while you eat beans."

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