These Miso Glazed Green Beans have quickly become a family favorite in our house. They are quick, easy, and absolutely jam-packed with flavor! The key to this recipe is getting your wok, skillet, or pan SUPER hot (like, 500+°F hot) and searing the green beans before adding the miso glaze. Adding the miso glaze for the last minute or two of cooking adds the perfect salty, sweet, and savory punch to this dish.
Miso Glazed Green Bean Ingredients
There are a couple of parts to this recipe: the green beans and the miso sauce. These are both very easy to throw together.
The Green Beans
The green beans are super simple: fresh green beans (NOT frozen!), a little bit of oil, a pinch of salt, and heat. That's right. I've included heat as an "ingredient" because it's incredibly important to sear these really, really well. Searing these over extra-high heat adds an amazing toasty, roasted flavor that takes them to a totally new level. Toss the beans in a little oil with a pinch of kosher salt to evenly coat, then add them to an extra-hot wok, pan, or griddle to sear!
Miso Glaze
The miso glaze is the key to giving this dish most of it's flavor! It does have some harder-to-find ingredients, namely the Shaoxing Cooking Wine and the Red Miso paste.
The complete list of ingredients is below:
- Soy Sauce
- Shaoxing Cooking Wine
- Red Miso Paste
- Minced Garlic
- Fresh Ginger
- Crushed Red Pepper
- Granulated Sugar
Shaoxing Cooking Wine is a fermented rice wine that is an integral part of Chinese cuisine. It is used in a lot of recipes, mostly for sauces and marinades. Go check out the link to the Soeos brand Shaoxing Cooking Wine here that I use.
Dry Sherry is the most readily available substitute that will get you close. Japanese mirin is another popular substitution, although it does have more sweetness than either the Shaoxing cooking wine or the cooking sherry.
Miso is a fermented soy bean paste from Japan that is a combination of soy beans, salt, and koji (the same fermenting agent used in sake making). This is an intensely salty and umami-rich product that is great for seasoning sauces and marinades, adding a ton of depth to soups and stews, etc.
There are a multitude of varieties and colors, ranging from white to yellow to red. Red and white varieties are the most popular in the United States. White Miso is milder and has a relatively short fermentation period. Red Miso is darker, richer, and more robust than other varieties. This is mainly due to the proportion of ingredients and fermentation time. For a more detailed dive into the world of miso, go check out this article from epicurious.com that has a ton of information about the subject!
Serving Suggestions
These Miso Glazed Green Beans are fantastic as an appetizer or a side dish to almost any meal. They are great served next to my recipe for Teriyaki Chicken Thighs or next to my recipe for Savory Katsu Chicken Ramen. Or you can check out all of my other Asian-inspired recipes here.
Did you make this recipe for Miso Glazed Green Beans?
Let me know in the comments below how yours turned out, and don't forget to leave a rating!
Recipe
Miso Glazed Green Beans
Equipment
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Medium Mixing Bowl
- Wok, Heavy Bottomed Skillet, or Griddle
Ingredients
Green Beans
- 1 Lb. Fresh Green Beans Washed and Ends Trimmed
- 2 - 3 Tablespoons Neutral Oil
- 1 - 2 Pinches Kosher Salt
Miso Glaze
- ¼ Cup Soy Sauce
- ¼ Cup Shaoxing Cooking Wine Substitute Dry Sherry or Japanese Mirin
- 2 Tablespoons Red Miso Paste
- 1 Large or 2 Small Cloves of Garlic Minced
- 1- inch Knob Fresh Ginger Peeled and Grated
- Pinch Crushed Red Pepper
- 2 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar
- Sesame Seeds For Garnish
Instructions
- Preheat a wok, large skillet, or griddle over high heat until smoking hot. (500+℉ on an infrared thermometer.)
- In a large mixing bowl, toss the green beans in several tablespoons of neutral oil and a few pinches of kosher salt. Set aside.
- In a separate medium mixing bowl, add the miso glaze ingredients and mix until completely incorporated.
- Add the beans to your preheated wok, heavy bottom skillet, or griddle and sear heavily for 5 to 7-minutes until they are well browned on both sides.
- Add sauce, tossing and stirring continuously for an additional 2 to 3-min until the sauce begins to thicken and it starts to stick to the beans. (Take care not to cook the sauce too long as the sugar will start to burn).
- Remove from the heat and garnish with sesame seeds. Serve hot.
Stacy says
So good I could almost make a meal out of just these green beans!