SWEET N SOUR SAUCE INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup water
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon dry sherry
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon chili oil
1 1/2 tbsp. cornstarch mixed with 3 tablespoons water

Combine all sauce ingredients except cornstarch solution in a medium-size saucepan.  Bring sauce to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly.  Add cornstarch solution and cook, stirring, until sauce boils and thickens. 

Fry bacon until crisp and drain on paper towels; set aside and crumble.  Bring a large pot of water to a boil  and add the onion strips.  Blanch briefly, just until the strips soften - about 30 seconds.  Remove the strips from the pot of water with a pair of tongs or a fork and set aside.  Save the pot of boiling water to use for cooking the beans.  Add 1 Tbsp. salt to the pot of boiling water and then add the beans.  Cook the beans until they are crisp tender, approximately 6 minutes.

Remove from boiling water and place in a colander to drain and immediately place in a large bowl of ice and water to stop the cooking action and cool down.  Drain the beans in the colander again and set aside.

To assemble the bundles, place a strip of the green onion on a clean surface or paper towel and add about 10 green beans on top of the green onion strip and using both hands bundle the green beans together and tie a regular square knot with the green onion strip being careful not to break it.  Tie off as many bundles as needed and arrange on your serving platter or plate.  Spoon a generous amount of sweet and sour sauce over each green bean bundle and garnish with Kosher Salt and crumbled bacon.

YIELD: 10 or more servings

Above green bean bundles prepared on Saint Patrick's Day 03-17-13 for that traditional green color and served as an appetizer.

Click on thumbnail sequence pixs for a larger screen view:

Serve the green bean bundles as an appetizer or as a side dish.  This recipe was inspired by Tammy Smit who planted the seed to get something green going for Saint Patrick's Day along with Linda and Jack Driggers.  Many Internet and cookbook recipes use bacon as the wrap along with a brown sugar and Balsamic vinegar sauce.  The sweet n sour sauce worked fine with the green beans.  As an ole country boy, I usually consume beans of all types that have been boiled in seasoned water with a chunk or two of ham hocks or rendered fat back grease but a little uptown City green beans are ok to broaden my culinary experience....grin if you must! 

Web published by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 03-17-13.