Long Bean Rice 豆角飯 (dòu jiǎo fàn) is a braised rice that is a comforting home-cooked dish common in many Chinese families. It’s a very practical dish that’s first fried in the wok and then finished in the rice cooker. This dish can be made in advanced and kept warm in the rice cooker which is great for families who eat at different times. Perfect for busy families with different schedules!
Chinese long beans are part of the cowpea family and are a relative of the black-eyed peas. These beans date back to over a thousand years ago in the Northern Song Dynasty. You wouldn't find them at a banquet because they're a peasant food. Long beans are economical, easy to grow in sandy and dry conditions. They’re less sweet than the western green beans and have a distinct earthy flavour which I really like.
Chinese long beans 豆角 (dòu jiǎo) also known as 豇豆 (jiāng dóu) are particularly popular in Northern Chinese dishes. Soil in the northern regions of China have always been less fertile than the south. Consequently, long beans were amongst some of the most important foods available to peasants. The harsh winters in northern regions made preserved green beans an essential part of the winter food supply. These sour long beans are often used in fried rice and soup noodles in northern China. If you’ve ever had the popular “snail noodles 螺螄粉 (luó sī fěn)”, you’d know that preserved long beans play a crucial role in giving snail noodles it’s signature flavour.
In my Long Bean Rice 豆角飯 (dòu jiǎo fàn), I’ll show you how to make this dish so that the rice turns out fluffy and not mushy. I made this rice because my son was just getting over a cough and didn’t want to eat congee again. He wanted fried rice which I thought would be too “heaty or 熱氣 (Cantonese: yeet hei)”. So this dish became our compromise!
Looking to counter "heatiness"? Try my Watercress and Honey Tea 西洋菜蜜 or Diced Winter Melon Soup 冬瓜粒湯.
Long Bean Rice 豆角飯
Ingredients
- 400 g Chinese Long Beans
- 200 g Pork , diced
- 100 g Fresh shiitake mushrooms (or 6-8 medium sized dry shiitake mushrooms), diced
- 2 Chinese preserved sausages , diced
- 460 g White rice (1.5 cups)
- 475 ml Water (rice to water ratio is 1:1 volume wise)
- 2 stalks Green onions , chopped
- 2 tbsp Fish sauce
- 1 tsp Dark soy sauce
- 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
- 2 tbsp Oil
Ingredients for pork marinade:
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 1 tsp Light soy sauce
- 1 tsp Corn starch
Instructions
- Wash rice until water runs clear
rinsing off excess starch will result in cooked rice being soft but not mushy nor sticky 
- Soak rice for 15 minutes
15-30 minutes or the approximate time for getting all the prep work done - Dice pork and marinate with 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp light soy sauce and 1 tsp corn starch. Mix well and set aside
- Dice shiitake mushrooms
- Dice Chinese preserved sausage
- Chop green onions
- Long beans: remove ends, wash and cut long beans to your desired length
I cut them to approx. 1” length since they are the star of the show - Drain rice
- In a hot wok, add 2 tbsp oil, add pork and fry in single layer until brown
- Stir-fry pork until most of the pork surface has browned. Remove from wok
- Add Chinese sausage to wok. Fry until aromatic and push to one side of the wok
- Add shiitake mushrooms to the wok. Stir-fry for 1 minute and push everything to one side of the wok
- Add long beans to the wok
- Add 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine and stir-fry until wine evaporates and mix well
- Add pork and rice into the wok
- Add 1 tsp dark soy sauce and 2 tbsp fish sauce. Stir-fry until well mixed and turn off heat
- Pour all the contents into rice cooker
- Add an equal amount of water (to rice) in the rice cooker
rice and water volume should be the same, example 2 cups rice to 2 cups water - Cook rice as usual in the rice cooker
- After rice is done, wait another 10 minutes before opening the lid. Add green onion. Mix well
- Taste and make adjustments, if necessary
- Serve
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