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Sesame Green Beans

By America's Test Kitchen

Published on December 18, 2007

Time

35 minutes

Yield

Serves 4

Sesame Green Beans

Ingredients

2 teaspoons sesame seeds 1 tablespoon soy sauce 2 teaspoons honey 4 teaspoons vegetable oil 1 pound green beans trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces2 teaspoons rice vinegar 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil 3 scallions, sliced thin

Before You Begin

Rice vinegar and toasted sesame oil can be found near other vinegars and oils in most grocery stores.

Instructions

  1. Toast sesame seeds in large skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 5 minutes. Transfer to plate. Whisk soy sauce and honey in small bowl.
  2. Heat oil in empty skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Cook beans until bright green, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until beans are spotty brown and tender, about 10 minutes.
  3. Uncover, stir in soy sauce mixture, and cook until beans are glazed, about 1 minute. Off heat, stir in vinegar, sesame oil, and scallions. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds. Serve.
Sesame Green Beans

Sesame Green Beans

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By America's Test Kitchen
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Time

35 minutes

Yield

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 teaspoons sesame seeds
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons honey
4 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 pound green beans trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
3 scallions, sliced thin

Ingredients

2 teaspoons sesame seeds
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons honey
4 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 pound green beans trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
3 scallions, sliced thin

Ingredients

2 teaspoons sesame seeds
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons honey
4 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 pound green beans trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
3 scallions, sliced thin

Why This Recipe Works

The best sesame green beans recipes produce beans that are tender-crisp and lightly glazed with a nutty sauce. Green bean recipes we wanted to emulate employ a double-cooking technique in which the beans are blanched and then deep-fried to achieve a lightly browned, blistered exterior before being glazed. We wanted to get the same results using just one pan. Stir-frying the beans in oil for a few minutes to start the browning and then covering them to cook through gave us the properly blistered and browned beans we were looking for. Using honey in our sauce made it viscous enough to cling to the beans. Adding the vinegar and sesame oil off the heat helped preserve their flavors (sesame oil in particular loses flavor when heated too much) and gave the sauce the right light yet sticky consistency, which made for our ideal sesame green beans.

Before You Begin

Rice vinegar and toasted sesame oil can be found near other vinegars and oils in most grocery stores.

Instructions

  1. Toast sesame seeds in large skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 5 minutes. Transfer to plate. Whisk soy sauce and honey in small bowl.
  2. Heat oil in empty skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Cook beans until bright green, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until beans are spotty brown and tender, about 10 minutes.
  3. Uncover, stir in soy sauce mixture, and cook until beans are glazed, about 1 minute. Off heat, stir in vinegar, sesame oil, and scallions. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds. Serve.

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Appears In

Magazine

February / March 2008

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