Din Tai Fung Green Beans (Copycat Recipe)

Chinese Stir Fry Garlic Green Beans on a plate.

5 from 2 votes

Din Tai Fung Green Beans (Copycat Recipe)

Green beans flash fried in hot oil until the skins blister, then tossed with a large amount of garlic cooked slowly so it turns golden and crisp. The Din Tai Fung side dish, done at home in about 15 minutes.

Prep Time10

Cook Time10

Total Time20

Course: Appetizer, Main Course, Snack

Cuisine: Asian

Servings: people

Calories: 210kcal

Author: Rose Sioson

Equipment

1 A shallow, wide pan or wok.
candy or deep-fry thermometer
spider skimmer or slotted spoon.

Ingredients

300 grams Green Beans washed and trimmed
1 tablespoon Garlic cloves minced
1-2 cups Avocado Oil for deep frying
Salt and Pepper
MSG a pinch

Instructions

Prep and dry the beans. Trim the ends and cut into roughly 3-inch pieces. Wash, then dry them completely with a towel. Wet beans hitting hot oil splatter, and they steam instead of blistering.
Mince the garlic. Do this before the oil goes on. Once you start frying there is no time to stop and chop.
Heat the oil to 375°F. About an inch in a shallow pan or wok, enough to submerge the beans. Use a thermometer. This is the one number that decides whether they blister or go soggy.
1-2 cups Avocado Oil
Fry in small batches, about 1 minute. The skins will wrinkle and blister and the color goes bright. Don't crowd the pan. Every handful drops the oil temperature, and if it falls below about 325°F the beans absorb oil and turn soft and greasy instead of crisping. Let it come back up between batches.
300 grams Green Beans
Drain. Lift them out with a slotted spoon onto a paper towel-lined plate or a wire rack.
Cook the garlic low and slow. Pour off all but a few tablespoons of the oil, leaving it in the same pan. Turn the heat to low, add the garlic, and cook 2 to 3 minutes until it turns pale gold and smells sweet. Low is the whole point. On medium it browns before it crisps, and burnt garlic will make the batch bitter.
1 tablespoon Garlic cloves
Toss and season. Return the beans to the pan, raise the heat to medium-high for about 30 seconds, and season with salt, white pepper, and a pinch of MSG. Toss until everything is coated and the garlic is clinging to the beans.
Salt and Pepper, MSG
Serve immediately. These are best in the first few minutes, while the outside is still snappy.

Notes

Dry the beans completely. Not damp, dry. Water hitting hot oil splatters, and any moisture left on the skin steams the bean instead of blistering it. Pat them down with a towel and give them a minute on the counter.
Cut them to about 3 inches. That's how the restaurant serves them, and it makes them easy to pick up.
Use a thermometer. Oil temperature decides this recipe. Below 350°F the beans absorb oil instead of crisping, and you can't judge it by eye.
Fry a handful at a time. Every batch you add pulls the oil temperature down. A big handful can drop it 50 degrees, and once it falls below about 325°F you're steaming in oil rather than frying. Let it recover between batches.
One minute is enough. You want wrinkled, blistered skin and bright green color, not browning. Olive-drab means they've gone too long and the snap is lost.
Turn the heat to low before the garlic goes in. This is the step people get wrong. Garlic in hot oil burns in seconds and turns the whole batch bitter. Low heat, 2 to 3 minutes, until it's pale gold and smells sweet rather than sharp.
Mince the garlic by hand. A press turns it to paste, which burns instead of going golden.
Season at the very end. Salt pulls moisture to the surface, so adding it while the beans are still frying undoes the crisp.
About the MSG. It's what makes these taste like the restaurant version. If you'd rather skip it, chicken bouillon powder or mushroom seasoning works, though both are largely MSG themselves.
Air fryer version. Toss the dried beans with a tablespoon of oil and air fry at 400°F for 8 to 10 minutes, shaking halfway, until blistered. Cook the garlic separately in a pan and toss. Close, not identical.
Storage. Airtight in the fridge up to 3 days, cooled before covering. Reheat in a hot pan for 2 to 3 minutes or in the air fryer at 375°F. Don't freeze, fried beans come out waterlogged. To get ahead, prep and dry the beans and mince the garlic a day early, then fry just before serving.

Nutrition