中文菜谱：碎米芽菜肉末炒蚕豆

Fresh fava beans are such a culinary delicacy. The fresh beans come with light green color and a mild grassy, earthy and refreshing scent and taste. When cooked, they become a bit sweet and starchy.

For those who have never had fava beans before, they are very similar to what young lima beans taste like. The skin on the outside is a little bit firmer than lima beans. And they are both very tasty!

I cook with fresh fava beans a lot. The best season for them is late summer. And they are usually available in Asian grocery markets. If you live in Houston like I do, Central Market is another good place to shop for fresh fava beans too.

Ingredients：

2 lbs fresh fava beans
200 to 300 g ground pork
1/2 package of Sichuan pickled vegetable, finely chopped (1/2 package weighs about 50 g. It is sold in most Asian grocery stores)
1/2 to 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup of chicken broth/ water
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
1 slice of ginger root, minced
1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
5 to 6 dry red chili peppers, diced
vegetable oil for cooking
salt to taste

Fresh young fava beans are usually sold in pods so that they stay fresh and the beans don’t get bruised.

Pick the ones with big fat “belly”.

Peel fava beans from their pods.

Directions：

Heat a cast iron wok over high heat. Add oil, along with minced garlic, ginger, diced peppers and ground pork. Stir fry over high heat for several minutes until the ground pork begin to turn slightly golden brown.

Add chopped Sichuan pickled vegetable. Sautee for a minute or two.

Add fava beans and sautee everything together for another couple minutes.

Add chicken broth/water, along with rice cooking wine, oyster suace, low sodium soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar and salt. Cover with lid and reduce the heat to simmer for 7 to 8 minutes.