Growing up in Beijing, green beans and potatoes were always a staple in our home cooked meals. My mom likes to use the leftovers from Red Braised Ribs or Braised Chicken as a base, and cook some green bean and potato in it to make a hearty stew. These braised dishes use a soy sauce based sauce with a lot of aromatics for a very savory taste, combined with the umami of the meat. The green bean and potato absorb the sauce and taste super rich and delicious. But when we don’t have a leftover meat stew, this recipe really comes in handy. It uses just a few ingredients to make a hearty veggie stew that is just as rich in taste. It’s very easy to put together too, making it a great side dish for your weekday meals.
Green bean and potato stew ingredients
Tian Mian Jiang
Sweet bean sauce (甜面酱, tian mian jiang), which translates literally to sweet flour sauce, is also called sweet bean paste or sweet flour paste. It is a thick dark brown sauce made from fermented wheat flour. It tastes salty, slightly sweet, and has a savory umami that is similar to that of fermented soybeans. Tian Mian Jiang is less salty than yellow soybean paste (黄酱) and less sweet than Hoisin sauce. It is the sauce that accompanies Peking Duck and Moo Shu Chicken. And it’s the main ingredient for making Beijing Fried Sauce Noodles. This recipe uses Tian Mian Jiang as a main ingredient to create a savory stew base that is full of umami.
Mise en place
When you’re ready to cook, your table should have:
Sliced green beans Sliced potato Mixed sauce Chopped aromatics (green onion and garlic) Water
Make sure the potato slices are not too thick, so they will cook at the same rate as the green beans.
How to make green bean and potato stew
Making green bean and potato stew is super easy: The key step is to slowly cook the sauce, mainly the tian mian jiang, to draw out its aroma. You should use low heat and slowly cook the sauce, so it’s roasted slowly without burning. You will see the sauce turn to a darker shade and smell very fragrant when ready. Once the base is created, the rest is really easy. Once the dish is done, the vegetables will be tender, and coated with a layer of sticky brown sauce that is very rich and hearty.
How to serve green bean and potato stew
This Northern Chinese style green bean and potato stew is a great side dish to pair with many other mains, soups and appetizers for dinner. You can also serve the stew with steamed rice, just like we eat it in China. If you want to make this one as a main dish, you can brown some ground meat (pork, beef or chicken all work) before adding the sauce. The meat adds more flavor to the sauce and makes the dish a satisfying main. Consider serving the green bean and potato stew with these Northern dishes:
Garlic Beef (蒜香牛肉粒) Chinese Chive and Egg (韭菜炒鸡蛋) Chinese Ground Chicken Bowl Easy Beef Fried Rice (牛肉炒饭) Chinese Red Braised Lamb (红烧羊肉)
Other delicious side dishes
Air Fryer Corn on the Cob Steamed Enoki Mushrooms (蒜蓉金针菇) Eggplant with Tomato (西红柿炒茄子) Soy Sauce Fried Rice (酱油炒饭) Choy Sum with Garlic Sauce (白灼菜心)
