Bian dou men mian (扁豆焖面) or steamed noodles and green beans is a delicious noodle dish that we learned from our ayi in Beijing. Remember her? She helped us make Chinese peanut brittle on the blog last year. She’d see us cooking and blogging on the weekends, and suggested we post this dish, which was a favorite that she’d make for her family often. She showed us how to make it, and we all agreed that it was a huge winner.
Bian dou men mian loosely translates to “green bean noodles cooked in a covered pot.” It’s a mouthful, I know. But I can assure you of one thing, and it’s that you aren’t likely to find this steamed noodles and green beans dish in restaurants. I have yet to see it on a menu anywhere.
So what’s so great about this noodles and green beans recipe, you might ask… Well first of all, it is a super easy and very straightforward recipe. Secondly, the dish is made by steaming fresh noodles, yielding a delightfully chewy, “al dente” texture. The noodles are steamed with a great sauce, along with green beans and seared pork.
Of course, timing is everything, and with the abundance of green beans from my garden, I feel the time has come to share this great recipe with everyone. We have shown you how to make 焖饭(“men fan”) using a rice cooker, and with today’s 焖面(men mian), your kitchen will never be the same again. Feel free to adjust the recipe to your own tastes, but remember one thing––fresh noodles are necessary for this dish!
For marinating the pork:
1/2 pound pork, thinly sliced (I used pork belly, but feel free to substitute another cut of pork or chicken)
2 teaspoons light soy sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
For the rest of the dish:
1 pound fresh white noodles
3 tablespoons oil, divided
3 slices ginger, julienned
3 star anise
5 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
3 dried red chilies, coarsely chopped (optional)
2 scallions, chopped
1 pound green beans, trimmed and cut in half
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 cup water
Start by mixing the meat with the marinade ingredients and set aside for 20 minutes while you prepare the rest of the components. Prepare a steamer, making sure no water will touch the noodles during the steaming process. See our post on how to set up a steamer if you’re not familiar with steaming foods in Chinese cooking.
Place a large sheet of parchment paper on the steaming rack, and loosely pile the noodles on the parchment paper. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon oil, tossing the noodles lightly in the oil.
Steam for 10 to 12 minutes over high heat (this cooking time will vary depending on the thickness of your noodles). Remove from heat and set aside.
Heat another 2 tablespoons oil in a wok over medium heat. Add the ginger and star anise, and cook for 30 seconds.
Add the garlic, chilies (if using) and scallions, and stir-fry for one minute.
Now add the pork…
…and turn up the heat to high. Stir-fry until the pork is opaque.
Then spread the pork out in a single layer on the wok’s surface to brown the meat (30 seconds to a minute).
Stir in the green beans and cook for a couple minutes.
Add the dark soy sauce, light soy sauce and sugar. Stir everything together and add water. Place the steamed noodles on top of this mixture (do not stir), and cover lid. Cook for 5 minutes.
Uncover the wok; you’ll see that the liquid in the wok has reduced slightly. Turn down the heat, and mix everything together to coat the noodles with sauce.
The sauce should be soaked into the noodles very quickly. Serve your Bian Dou Men Mian immediately.
This Bian Dou Men Mian Steamed Noodles and Green Beans dish is very unique and equally delicious!
- ½ pound pork, thinly sliced (I used pork belly, but feel free to substitute another cut of pork or chicken)
- 2 teaspoons light soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine
- ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
- 1 pound fresh white noodles
- 3 tablespoons oil, divided
- 3 slices ginger, julienned
- 3 star anise
- 5 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
- 3 dried red chilies, coarsely chopped (optional)
- 2 scallions, chopped
- 1 pound green beans, trimmed and cut in half
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 1 cup water
- Start by mixing the meat with the marinade ingredients and set aside for 20 minutes while you prepare the rest of the components. Prepare a steamer, making sure no water will touch the noodles during the steaming process.
- Place a large sheet of parchment paper on the steaming rack, and loosely pile the noodles on the parchment paper. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon oil, tossing the noodles lightly in the oil. Steam for 10 to 12 minutes over high heat (this cooking time will vary depending on the thickness of your noodles). Remove from heat and set aside.
- Heat another 2 tablespoons oil in a wok over medium heat. Add the ginger and star anise, and cook for 30 seconds. Add the garlic, chilies (if using) and scallions, and stir-fry for one minute. Now add the pork and turn up the heat to high. Stir-fry until the pork is opaque. Then spread the pork out in a single layer on the wok’s surface to brown the meat (30 seconds to a minute).
- Stir in the green beans and cook for a couple minutes. Add the dark soy sauce, light soy sauce and sugar. Stir everything together and add water. Place the steamed noodles on top of this mixture
- (do not stir), and cover lid. Cook for 5 minutes.
- Uncover the wok; you’ll see that the liquid in the wok has reduced slightly. Turn down the heat, and mix everything together to coat the noodles with sauce. The sauce should be soaked into the noodles very quickly. Serve immediately.
Crystal says
Men mian was my late grandmother’s specialty and is my absolute favorite Chinese dish. I actually have had it from restaurants in Taiyuan, where its a local specialty. Its so delicious! I can’t wait to try your recipe and see how it compares to my family’s!
Judy says
Yeahhhh, can’t wait to hear back from you, Crystal! :-)
Jaclyn Chen says
So so good! Just made this. I sub pork with prawns, water with stock and fresh noodles with cooked pasta.
Judy says
Totally agree, Jaclyn! We have some hidden gems, don’t we? So glad you have found one of them.
okiegirl says
Made this tonight and it was way far beyond my expectations good. But that’s often the way with simple recipes, huh? It was the perfect amount of spicy for my palate, and the green beans were crisp tender and perfect, as were the noodles. I’ll be coming back to this again and again as green beans are in season.
As always, thank you for superb recipes!
Judy says
hehehehehe…You are very welcome!
Elizabeth S. says
I really wanted to make this last night–I’d been thinking about it all day as I’d gotten some green beans and pork at the grocery store. When I got home, however, I realized I’d forgotten to stop for scallions and fresh noodles. I didn’t feel like going out again, so I had to improvise. It was still delicious. And miracle of miracles, my picky seven year old loved the pork. I cannot wait to try again with fresh noodles.
Judy says
Hi Elizabeth, please do try this recipe with fresh noodles. It makes all the difference.
Claudine says
I just made this, and it is definitely going to be cooked more often in our kitchen. We love the hint of star anise in the sauce! We cook at home a lot and my specialty is in Malaysian food, Malaysian-Chinese food, and I must say, I am loving this recipe as compared to what I normally cook! Thank you, from both my husband and I! We are officially your fans!
Judy says
Yeaaaaahhhh! How wonderful, Claudine! You make us very happy! Hope to hear more from you and your husband.
Don says
I’ll make this with bacon, my tummy’s rumbling already!
Kaitlin says
Awesome idea! Let us know how it turns out!!!
Katherines Corner says
Oh my goodness every time I visit your wonderful blog I drool a little, giggle. Looks fresh and delicious. I invite you to share at my Thursday blog hop. Hugs!
Judy says
Thank you so much, Katherines.
Sonja says
Hello Judy
Thank you so very much for sharing this recipe.
I just made it and finished eating it. What can I say besides: “Wow, it tastest so great.” and took a picture of it.
Slight changes were made on my behalve.. I did not have white noodles so I used quick cooking egg noodles. I cooked the noodles just for a few seconds, then drained them, added a little seseame oil and added them to the meal (accordingly to your recipe) with the beans.
I also used white and green beans. For extra flavour I used the summer savory (which I use with beans anyway) and took it out before serving.
Thank you and your family for sharing all those delicious recipes.
Judy says
Wow, Sonja, how great is that! Love, Love, Love.