Last time I introduced olive vegetable via a recently favorite Chinese olive vegetable fried rice. Then I found that I am fall in love with this small but delicious side ingredients.
Firstly, Chinese olive vegetable is not common olive fruit.
What’s Chinese olive vegetable (橄榄菜)
Chinese olive vegetable (橄榄菜) is a a specialty of Teochew (or chao zhou, 潮州) cuisine, a branch of Chinese cuisine. The name is quite misunderstanding. It is not pickled olive fruit but cooked mustard with olive fruit, soy sauce and oil. Though not fermented, the long cooking time gives the oil vegetable a very distinctive, strong savory flavor.
The background story about Chinese olive vegetable says that one lady found the young and immature Chinese White Olive (青橄榄) dropping to the ground. She picked them up and place in their pot cooking mustard green. Then this “olive vegetable “was created. I get lots of feedbacks asking about how to find Chinese olive vegetable. You can search it in Asian stores or check this link and get it from amazon.
In addition to this simple stir-frying with green vegetables, Chinese olive vegetable can be also used in soups, stews and this vegetarian fried rice. With a very small portion, it can bring a unique aromatic to the entire dish. I am quite upset about writing less famous and self creations on the blog since they usually get very less attention. Sometimes, I feel frustrated that some of the best ever dishes are not valued and hard to get feedback. However, I still want to share my daily cooking with very basic and simple ingredients. Food can be simple and delicious too.
Steps
Green Beans with Chinese Olive Vegetable
Ingredients
- 250 g green beans cut into long pieces
- 2 tbsp. Chinese olive vegetable
- 2 tbsp. vegetable cooking oil
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- a small pinch of salt
Instructions
- Load a pot with enough water and bring it to a boiling. Add a small pinch of salt and ¼ tsp. vegetable cooking oil and cook the green beans for 2-3 minutes. Transfer out and drain.
- Heat cooking oil in wok and fry garlic until aromatic. Add green beans in, fry for another 2 minutes. Add Chinese olive vegetable, mix well. Add a small pinch of salt if necessary. But taste before adding the salt since Chinese olive vegetable is quite salty.
Nutrition
IB
I am so excited to try this dish and will let you know how it turned out. Thank you for sharing your creations with the world!
Elaine
Thank you. I really hope you can love this one.
Val
We made this after making the olive fried rice and it was so good and so easy to make! Thank you for the recipe! 🙂
Elaine
Thanks Val for trying this one. Because it is almost unknown, so quite hard to get feedbacks. I always want to introduce my daily cooking yummy dishes. I will make more less known but fabulous dishes.
Andrew
I'm completely hooked on the flavour of the chinese olive vegetable. It tastes great with fried rice and also with green beans like you say here. I've also been putting it as a topping on noodle soup, and on soft boiled eggs with rice for breakfast. SO flavoursome, and not at all like the flavour of the European type of preserved olive. Thank you for writing about it!
Elaine
Yes, Andrew. It is a hidden star just like Ya Cai from Sichuan. I use lots of olive vegetables in my daily cooking too.
Staci
Thank you for your blog! I love real Chinese food but it's impossible to find here in the US. Now I am trying to cook my own, and while it isn't as good as in China, it is much better than in American restaurants. And I really appreciate the recipes about how to use or cook basic ingredients - I need that information more than how to cook a famous dish. So thanks!
Elaine
Staci,
Thanks so much for your kind feedback. I am so happy to know the recipes are useful for Chinese food lovers like you. I do share lots of dishes of my own creations. They are infamous and quite delicious too.
Olivia
I love this recipe and sad as well that not a lot of people know about this olive ingredient. When I had this dish when I lived in Hong Kong, my friend made this recipe with potatoes as well! So yummy! People are missing out and hope more people try this!
Elaine
Yes. This is a fabulous ingredients.
Katharine
Thank you for introducing me to this magical ingredient. Chinese olive paste (as it's known in Australian Asian grocery stores) adds so much flavour - a kick of umami - to many dishes. Thank you, too for a simple easy tasty dish. Green beans are transformed.
Elaine
Thank you for your lovely feedback!! I am so glad to get this sauce introduced!!
Amanda
I love this dish! It has such a unique flavour. Thank you sharing this tasty vegetable!
Elaine
Thank you, Amanda. I am so happy to hear this comment. Happy cooking!
Cary
Can you tell us how to make this Chinese preserved olive vegetable? I'd rather make my own rather than buying it.
Elaine
Cary, I have not tried to make a homemade version. Sorry.
Camille
This dish is absolutely delicious, thank you for sharing.
I ordered it from a restaurant and fell in love. I'm so happy to be able to prepare it at home. I can't believe how simple it is. Anyone that's tried it has really enjoyed it as well.
Elaine
Yes, you get it dear. Glad to know you live it. It is my favorite side dish.