Sichuan Green Beans

Mike and I basically followed the Cooks Illustrated recipe for this that came from "The best international recipe" tome. Mike is Chinese and he seemed to heartily approve of the result, which is enough validation for me. Our one modification was to add water chestnuts -- not the typical canned variety, but fresh ones that Mike found at the Asian market in San Mateo. They are certainly far superior, having a lighter texture and richer, sweeter flavor than the canned ones.

Ingredients for sauce:
-- water
-- soy sauce
-- Chinese rice cooking wine
-- sugar
-- cornstarch
-- ground white pepper
-- red pepper flakes

Ingredients for the main pipeline:
-- 1 pound Chinese long beans
-- 1/4 pound ground pork
-- 3 garlic cloves
-- grated fresh ginger
-- green onions, sliced thin on the diagonal
-- toasted sesame oil