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green beans with fermented black beans ~ aka dirty green beans

Name: green beans with fermented black beans ~ aka dirty green beans
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients: 2 pounds green beans, trimmed; 4 teaspoons peanut or canola oil; 2 cloves garlic, minced; 1 cup finely chopped shiitake mushroom caps; Generous pinch red pepper flake; 2 tablespoons chopped dried fermented black soybeans; ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper; ¼ teaspoon salt; 2 tablespoons dry sherry or shao shing wine

Jump To Recipe by Katie on June 13, 2014 (updated 11/18/20) // 33 Comments »

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I’m calling this recipe Dirty Green Beans. It’s steamed green beans tossed with fermented black beans (which are fermented and salted black soybeans), shiitakes and garlic. They are totally umami {and a little dirty!}

When I was a little girl, my mom was an adventurous cook. Instead of pork chops and apple sauce that the Brady Bunch was eating, my mom made choucroute garni. Instead of spaghetti and meatballs, she whipped up killer spaghetti puttanesca with mussels in the shell. She used to make tofu and broccoli stir-frys with fermented black beans, and serve it up to us on a regular old weeknight without even flinching. She is still an adventurous cook. But the rest of the world has thankfully caught up to her.

I hadn’t thought about fermented black beans in forever, when I saw a bag of them at City Market last November. It is pretty easy to find them in a jar made into sauce. But finding them dry is not super common. So I bought them even though I had no plans for what to make with them.

If you haven’t seen them before, fermented black beans are fermented and salted black soybeans. They’re really common in Chinese cooking. They are salty as all get out, so use them in moderation. Also, like a lot of fermented food, they have a funk factor that in small doses is totally umami and in large doses is kinda sick (and not sick in a good way.) Look for them in Asian markets or specialty or health food stores with a good ethnic section.

So there I am, last November, all hopped up and excited about using my fermented black beans without further inspiration and Jase and I went out to the Prohibition Pig. There was a guy at the table next to ours who had a big ol side of green beans with his meal that looked so amazing. I had major food envy. I wanted those beans! They looked like they were coated in something dark and mysterious. Spicy looking. Dirty.

I don’t have a clue what was actually on his green beans to make them look that way, all dirty like, but I already knew how I wanted to make them. Yep, the fermented black beans! So I ended up making an umami mixture of garlic, finely chopped shiitakes and the chopped fermented black soybeans for Thanksgiving and I loved them to pieces. I called them Dirty Green Beans.

I wrote myself a little note to make them again for the blog when green beans came into season. And here we are at the very beginning of green bean season and I can finally share them!

More Green Bean Recipes to Try

This make ahead recipe for Orange Ginger Green Beans is a great one for the holidays.
This recipe for roasted green beans with almonds and thyme is like a cross between Green Bean Almondine and roasted green beans.
One of my most popular recipes ever are these simple skillet green beans. Have you tried them yet?
Classic flavors come together in these Green Beans with Walnuts and Balsamic.
Serve this one chilled in the summer. So fresh! Green beans and corn
Another cold option for summertime: green beans with basil vinaigrette

Thanks so much for reading. If you make this recipe for these Asian inspired Green Beans, let me know by leaving a star rating and review.

Happy Cooking!

~Katie