Spicy Green Bean and Shrimp Stir-Fry

In the recipe it says that mirin is a rice wine vinegar. I searched the web and found out that it is actually a rice wine. This means I can't use mirin, because of the alcohol content. You suggested to use rice wine vinegar with a bit of sugar. Can you tell me how much of both to use? Should I use the seasoned rice wine vinegar, or the plain one?

Good catch, I meant to say that mirin is a rice wine...and if you cannot find it, you can use a rice wine vinegar + a bit of sugar. I suggest using unseasoned rice wine vinegar (plain) as the seasoned one is often very salty, but if you already have seasoned r.w.v it would still work. Really the amount of sugar you use is to taste, you are just looking to take away some of the tartness of the r.w.v. (instead of 1/4 cup mirin, try 1/4 cup r.w.v + about 1 tsp of sugar...then give it a taste...it should be a bit tart and sweet at the same time).

I made this recipe but used broccoli as the beans didn't look great that day and it still tasted great. I am curious because I have also made the Sichuan-Soy Chicken Wings (also great) and instead of using Shaoxing rice wine, I used saki instead. Could I have used mirin?

For sure you could use mirin, that is the great thing about this type of cooking, you can play around by experimenting with what you have on hand. Glad you liked the recipe Liz!

So flavorful and so simple to make! Substituted Hot Bean Sauce (Ling How brand), because that is what I have and it turned out great. Really enjoyed this recipe, thanks!

I had to use regular green beans so I split them to thin them down. They did not cook enough during the "minute or two" in the wok and I have a commercial cooktop 18k BTU with gas, so I can get that wok HOT! So I had to remove them and microwave them to move them along, to keep from burning my garlic and ginger. Put them back in the wok, still crisp, and added the shrimp. Waiting for the "sauce to reduce and thicken", the shrimp were WAY overcooked and tasteless - marinated them for two hours AND added extra sambal. Real disappointment -

Hi Cindy. Sorry you had a bad experience. I have a few tips for anyone that might be discouraged by Cindy's experience and hopefully a few tips for you Cindy (that I hope help). First of all, some beans are tougher than others. Some will cook in a couple of minutes and others may take longer. So you did that right thing to adapt (don't follow recipes - follow your common sense and technique). One suggestion though when using a wok is to simple add a tablespoon or two water and quickly cover with a lid (to steam them) - this would have been much better then microwaving. Next, prawns come in different sizes too. Dawn specified 16 to 20 count but the key when cooking prawns is to just cook them. So again, forget the recipe and trust your instincts. For example, if the prawns are cooked but the sauce has not yet reduced enough, take out the prawns and add them back. For example #2, if the prawns are cooked AND the beans are cooked as well, but the sauce is still not reduced enough, take both the beans and the prawns out and reduce the sauce a bit more (unless too salty and then you can add a little cornstarch and water for thickening), then add the beans and prawns back. For example #3, let's say the prawns are cooked, but the beans are still a bit tough, what do you do? Take the prawns out and let the beans cook some more. And if the sauce starts to get to think - what do you do? Anyone? Hopefully this will help you understand that cooking is about adapting. Stop following cooking times (as every cook has a different stove, different ingredients/sizes/types, etc). Cooking is about cooking until things are done and using your skills and common sense to adjust along the way. Hope this helps and doesn't come across as condescending in any way, but rather informative. Remember, success in cooking (and in anything) comes from the learning you gain from failures. Reapply and you will have success. Cheers Joe

Thanks for the tips - I will surely use them on another wok recipe in the future!

what is sambal oelek?

Here is a video Drill-down on "What is Sambal Oelek". The video link is also listed in the text recipe under step 1. Hope this helps!

In this and some of the other recipes the first ingredient in the stir fry is the garlic and ginger. I've never been able to add these without the garlic instantly being reduced to black burned bits. I'm cooking on a new wok on an electric stove so I'm sure my wok doesn't get as hot as a home gas stove or industrial. If the ginger / garlic cooks (burns) so fast why do they go in first? To infuse the oil? If so how do you do it without getting the charcoal results I'm getting? I've made this and one other recipe on here with very good results. But both times ive ended up dumping the gingery garlic charcoal, preparing the stirfry and adding the garlic as the sauce is reducing. I love making stir frys and My wife now asks what are you going to stir fry next with a hungry smile. Thanks for these great lessons

1) Kechap Manis = 1T Soy + 1T Brown Sugar reduced to 1T. Needs the sweetness of Kechap Manis. 2) Wait until the beans are done before adding the garlic and ginger. 3) 1T water + 1tsp cornstarch at the end solve the thickening problem. Thanks for an excellent dish.