Why reduce the sauce? Well, unless you do, you’ll end up with chicken and green beans in broth. But you don’t want that.
You want the sauce to be thick enough so that it sticks to the chicken and beans. And the way to achieve that is to reduce the sauce until thick before tossing in the cooked chicken and beans.
That said, this is a very customizable recipe. The chicken can be replaced by other protein. Pork will work well. But if you prefer a meatless protein, you may substitute mushrooms or tofu.
We love green beans here at home. If it’s not among your favorite vegetables, try broccoli or cauliflower florets. Snow peas, snap peas and long beans will be good too. In fact, almost any non-leafy vegetable will work.
The sauce can be tweaked too. We’ve cooked chicken and vegetables using this technique many times with different sauces. If you want variations for the basic stir fry recipe, try using pad see ew sauce or teriyaki sauce. Just remember that whatever sauce you choose, reduce it first before tossing in your protein and vegetable.
Chicken and green beans stir fry
Ingredients
- 8 chicken thigh fillets
- teaspoons salt
- teaspoon black pepper
- 20 green beans
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 1 onion peeled and chopped
- 1 one-inch knob ginger peeled and grated
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and minced
- ½ cup sweet chili sauce
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice wine
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- chili flakes to garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Wipe the chicken thigh fillets dry with paper towels then cut into strips about half an inch wide.
- Place the chicken strips in a bowl. Add 1 ½ teaspoons salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper, and mix well. Set aside.
- String the green beans and cut into two-inch lengths.
- Heat the cooking oil in a wok or frying pan.
- Stir fry the green beans with ½ teaspoon salt and ⅛ teaspoon pepper for about two minutes or until cooked through but still a bit crisp. Scoop out and transfer to a plate.
- Reheat the oil and spread the chicken strips so that they are in a single layer. Leave for a minute then stir them around. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, for five five to six minutes or until the chicken is done. Scoop out and move to a plate or bowl.
- In whatever oil remains in the pan, saute the onion, garlic and ginger until aromatic, about a minute.
- Pour in the sweet chili sauce, soy sauce, rice wine and rice vinegar. Stir. Boil, uncovered, until thick and syrupy.
- Add the chicken and green beans to the sauce. Stir and toss around to coat all pieces of chicken and green beans with sauce evenly.
- Transfer the chicken and green beans stir fry to a serving bowl (or individual bowls) and, optionally, sprinkle with chili flakes before serving.
