Green Beans with Pork

On the day when our Food Made Fast: Asian cookbook showed up, I was very excited to try a recipe from it. Because we already had some ground pork and most of the other ingredients, this quick stir-fry from the "20 minutes start to finish" section was a natural choice. Even with low-sodium soy sauce and beef broth, this dish can come out a bit salty (for my over-sensitive palate), but the flavors were delicious and I would love to make this again.

Dry-fried String Beans with Pork
1 lb green beans, trimmed and but into bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup beef broth
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp corn or peanut oil
1/4 lb ground pork
1 tbsp ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 green onion, chopped
1 small jalapeno, seeded and minced
steamed rice, for serving

1. Parboil the green beans: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the beans, parboil for 2 minutes, and drain into a colander. Place under running cold water to halt the cooking. Pat the beans dry.
2. Make the sauce: In a small bowl, combine the beef broth, soy sauce, rice vinegar, cornstarch, and sugar and stir to dissolve the cornstarch and sugar.
3. Stir-fry the beans: Heat a wok or large frying pan over high heat until very hot and add the oil. Add the pork and stir-fry until no longer pink, about 2 minutes. Add the ginger, garlic, green onion, and jalapeno and stir-fry for about 10 seconds until fragrant. Add the green beans and stir to mix. Give the sauce a quick stir, add to the pan, and stir-fry until the beans are heated through and the sauce thickens, about 1 minute. Serve with the rice.