Stuffed Long Beans

Step 1

Whisk together all the sauce ingredients in a bowl and set it aside.

Step 2

Prepare a bowl of ice water and set it aside, then bring a pot of water to boil, add a pinch of salt.

Step 3

Blanch long beans in hot water for 2 minutes. Using a pair of tongs, transfer them to the ice water bath to cool down.

Step 4

Drain out the water and wipe them dry with paper towels. Trim off the top and end.

Step 5

Sauté finely chopped mushrooms until fragrant and season with salt and pepper. If the mushrooms appear to be wet, drain the liquid.

Step 6

Next, place pressed tofu in a food processor, pulse a few times until it turns pasty.

Step 7

Transfer tofu into a bowl and mix it with finely chopped carrots, mushrooms, cilantro, ½ teaspoon of salt, a few shakes of white pepper, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, and a drizzle of toasted sesame oil. Mix all ingredients until well combined.

Step 8

To make the long beans knot, please check out the video.

Step 9

Place knotted long beans on a cleaned surface and generously dust both sides with cornstarch. Stuff the long beans knot with the tofu mixture.

Step 10

In a heated non-stick skillet, add about a tablespoon of oil.

Step 11

Pan-fry long beans over low heat until golden brown on both sides. Then, push the cooked long beans to the side of the pan.

Step 12

Using the same skillet, sauté garlic until fragrant, adding more oil if needed. Add in sauce and chile.

Step 13

Place a lid over & let simmer for 2-3 mins or until the stuffing is fully cooked through. (Thick stuffing takes longer time to cook).

Step 14

Meanwhile, prepare a thin slurry by mixing 2 teaspoons of cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of water.

Step 15

While the long beans are simmering, swirl in the cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce. You may not need to thicken it if you have enough cornstarch from dusting the long beans earlier.

Step 16

Turn off the heat and garnish with toasted sesame seeds before serving.