Doubanjiang Chicken and Green Bean Stir-fry

meal with 10 in 30

This week’s recipe is a wholesome one inspired by my my dad. Growing up, my mom did most of the cooking at home and my dad would occasionally make an after school snack of cheung fun with hoisin or help out by wrapping dumplings and spring rolls. Now in his retirement he’s been cooking all the time and according to my mom, is the better cook.

75% of the time I travel back home to Ohio I have to take a red eye flight because that’s just how flights work between SFO and CLE. I land at 6:30am EST a little dazed and dehydrated, wait for my parents to pick me up, drive 15 minutes home, and then proceed to spiritually disconnect from the world and fall into the deepest slumber of my life in my childhood bedroom. The only thing that can really coax me out of the bed is the smell of lunch cooking wafting down the hallway.

While I was home for the holidays I was gently awoken by the sounds of oil sizzling and the smell of steamed jasmine rice and something spicy in the air. I stumble out of bed, it’s well past noon because I simply can’t get off West Coast tim, and see my dad making this Doubanjiang Chicken and Green Bean Stir-fry. It looks amazing and it’s almost ready to eat. I pour myself a mug of coffee and plop down at the dining table and my dad places a platter of the spicy chicken and green beans and a bowl of fluffy rice in front of me. We dig in and I practice my broken Cantonese with him. I can say “I really like eating this” and “can I have a napkin?” with relative confidence.

To me, this recipe is quintessential homestyle cooking. It’s healthy but satisfying, only requires a few ingredients (aka accessible and affordable), and takes less than 30 minutes to make. Nothing intimating about it, right? I often think about mental barriers when I develop a recipe. What are the mental barriers that stop someone from cooking something that is potentially new to them? Is it the cost and energy required to seek out new ingredients? The time commitment? Maybe it just doesn’t sound good to you?

What are your mental barriers when it comes to cooking?

In mainstream Western media, Asian food is still considered intimidating or requiring of demystification by many. Undoing this idea is quite literally one of my biggest career goals. It’s one of the reasons why I wrote Chinese Enough, to show that Chinese food can be effortless but exciting and fit into the meal plans of our everyday.

For this recipe I tried to stick to just 10 ingredients (with the exceptions of oil, salt, and pepper) and only 2 of those ingredients may be new to you. Doubanjiang is a spicy fermented bean paste that’s sort of like a chunkier version of Korean Gochujang, It’s most commonly used in Sichuan cooking and a foundational ingredient in the ever popular mapo tofu. If you end up buying your first jar of doubanjiang because of this recipe I promise to share more recipes utilizing it so you don’t have a barely used jar lingering in your fridge. And if Shaoxing wine is something new to you or hard for you to find, bourbon is honestly an amazing substitute in terms of flavor. If you’re avoiding alcohol, just add water into the pan to help loosen everything up.

This recipe uses 10 ingredients, mostly ones you have already and a couple that will add some excitement to your pantry, and is done in 30 minutes of casual cooking! We love a 10 in 30 recipe! If you make it and love it too, let me know so I can tell my dad and he will be so excited (but then also grumpy that I wrote about him on the internet)!

It’s a short week and I’m also feeling a little under the weather so cooking will be at a minimum.

Welcome Home Steak and Frites | The steak recipe is in Chinese Enough and it’s slathered in oyster sauce. Normally I eat it with rice so I can mix in with the pan sauce but my heart is telling me I need some fries this week.

Mom’s Meatloaf with Mash and Tender Bok Choy | It has been at least 15 years since I had my mom’s meatloaf and the nostalgic craving for it has gotten too strong to wait another week. It’s covered with ketchup and oyster sauce, the flavor pillars of the 90s in my house growing up. Fingers-crossed it’s just as good as I remember and I’ll share the recipe on here soon! Are people still interested in meatloaf?

Passion Fruit Egg Tarts | The greatest thing about being a baker is when you think to yourself “I’ve never had a passion fruit egg tart before but I really want one” you can just make it… or attempt to make it. I’m extra excited about this one.

Have a delicious week!

Doubanjiang Chicken and Green Bean Stir Fry

Serves 4

Doubanjiang Chicken And Green Bean Stir Fry

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1 lb boneless and skinless chicken thighs

2 tsp soy sauce, plus more for cooking

2 tsp avocado or neutral oil, plus more for cooking

1 tsp sesame oil

1/2 tsp coarse salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 big clove garlic, grated

3/4 lb green beans, trimmed and cut into 3” pieces

1/2 yellow onion, thinly sliced into crescents

2 tbsp shaoxing wine (can sub with bourbon)

3 tbsp doubanjiang

1 tbsp maple syrup

1. Slice the chicken thighs against the grain into small bite sliced strips (about 2 to 3-inches long). In a medium bowl, mix to combine chicken, soy sauce, avocado oil, sesame oil, salt, black pepper, and grated garlic. Allow the chicken to marinate at room temperature for 15 minutes.

2. Heat 2 tbsp avocado oil in a large frying pan over medium high heat. Once hot, add the chicken to the pan in a single layer and sear until the underside is browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Flip the chicken, give it a quick shake in the pan and sear for another 1 to 2 minutes. Add the onions and green beans and toss to combine. Continue to cook until the onions are starting to soften, tossing occasionally, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the wine, doubanjiang, 1 tbsp soy sauce, and maple syrup and toss to combine. Continue to cook until the sauce is caramelized and the green beans are tender (to your liking, I like them a little crisp), another 4 to 5 minutes.

3. Serve immediately with steamed rice.