Vainitas Salteadas con Bonito

Green Beans with Teriyaki Sauce & Bonito Flakes

The flavors and textures of these green beans are all over the place—caramelized, crunchy, and briny. The secret is to cook the beans until they are al dente, just tender-crisp. Then, sear them in an extremely hot pan, almost like making a stir-fry, so you get good color and flavor on the beans.

Serve the green beans as a side for grilled or sautéed seafood or chicken, or pile them on top of steamed rice to sop up the teriyaki sauce. When you scatter paper-thin bonito flakes on top, they dance around the beans like they are at a rock concert—maybe the best trick yet to get my kids to try a new veggie.

• 1 pound thin green beans or haricots verts, trimmed
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• Olive oil
• 1 teaspoon pureed garlic (see page 37) or finely minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon pureed ginger (see page 37) or finely minced ginger
• 1 medium shallot, finely chopped
• ⅓ to ½ cup Teriyaki Sauce (page 119)
• A generous handful (about ⅓ cup) of bonito flakes

1 Fill a medium bowl with ice and water (use plenty of ice). Fill a medium pot halfway with water, bring to a boil, and add the green beans and salt. Blanch the beans until bright green and tender-crisp, as few as 90 seconds for thin haricots verts or up to 3 minutes for thicker green beans. Immediately drain, and transfer the beans to the ice bath. Wait a few seconds, then drain and transfer the beans to paper towels to dry. Sauté the beans right away, or cool, cover and refrigerate them for up to 2 days.

2 Heat a wok or large sauté pan over high heat until hot, a good 2 minutes. Pour in a nice drizzle of olive oil, enough to coat the bottom of the pan (2 to 3 tablespoons), and heat the oil for another minute, until very hot. Swirl the oil around the pan, toss in the green beans, and shake the pan or use tongs to flip them a few times so they brown evenly. (If the beans are a little moist, the oil will sizzle and pop loudly; just be careful the hot oil doesn’t jump up and sting you.) After about 30 seconds, add the garlic, ginger, and shallots, sauté the vegetables a few seconds longer, then add about ⅓ cup of the teriyaki sauce. Toss the beans in the sauce and let the sauce sizzle and cook for another few seconds. If you are serving the beans with rice, add another drizzle of teriyaki sauce so there is plenty for the rice to sop up.

3 Immediately transfer the beans to a serving platter, scatter the bonito flakes on top, and enjoy the show.