1 pound green beans -- ends trimmed
2 tablespoons soy sauce and water
1 teaspoon each cornstarch and brown sugar
1 teaspoon dark oriental sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon each minced garlic and ginger root

Place beans in a vegetable steamer in a large pot over boiling water. Cover tightly and steam 10 minutes. Cool under cold running water. Drain.

While beans are steaming, mix soy sauce, water, cornstarch, sugar, sesame oil and crushed red pepper in a small bowl until the cornstarch is well blended.

Heat vegetable oil in a large Dutch Oven, pot or wok over medium-high heat. Add beans and stir-fry 3 minutes, or until beans are very hot and start to char in spots. Add garlic and ginger root. Continue stir-frying 2 minutes.

Pour in soy sauce mixture. Toss beans constantly until beans are evenly coated and glazed. 1-3 minutes.

Stacy's Notes - Made this July 2003. Had some fresh beans from the store that were probably a little too large. Next time get smaller more delicate green beans. I had about 3/4 lb of beans, but used the whole amounts for sauce (except for ginger root, I just sprinkled some ground ginger when it called for it). I steamed them 10 minutes and then stir-fried according to recipe. I probably used a tad bit less sesame oil, and just 1/4 red pepper flakes. Good taste and went well with the Asian BBQ chicken. Oh, and I used wok oil instead of vegetable oil.