Step 1

Snap off the tough ends of the green beans. If your green beans are very long, snap them in half.

Step 2

Heat the oil in a wok over medium-high heat. To check to see if the oil is hot enough, stick bamboo chopsticks into the wok so that the tips of the chopsticks are touching the bottom. You want to see tiny bubbles rapidly forming around the chopsticks. Alternatively, you can throw a green bean into the wok. If bubbles start to form around the bean immediately, the oil is ready for frying.

Step 3

Working in batches, fry the green beans for about 2 minutes, until the green beans start to wrinkle on the outside. You don’t need to cook the green beans for too long. Use a spider strainer to strain the oil from the beans and then transfer them to a plate lined with paper towels. Repeat until all the beans are fried. Turn off the heat. If you want the beans to be less greasy, blot them with paper towels.

Step 4

Carefully pour the used frying oil into a bowl. If you do not want to handle hot oil, let the oil cool completely in the wok. Don’t bother wiping the wok at this point because you’ll be using it to fry the garlic next, and you can use the residual oil in the wok for that.

Step 5

Heat the wok over medium-high heat. Add the minced garlic and cook it for about 30 seconds to 1 minute, until fragrant. Add the green beans back to the wok, along with the salt. Stir to combine. Cook for another minute. Turn off the heat and transfer the green beans to a serving plate. Garnish the beans with red pepper flakes and toasted sesame seeds, if you like.

Step 6

Serve the green beans with my egg fried rice, chicken chow mein, or pork potstickers!