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.Beans with oilve vegetable|chinasichuanfood.com

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. 

Beans with oilve vegetable|chinasichuanfood.com

Olive vegetable fired rice|chinasichuanfood.com

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. 

Beans with oilve vegetable|chinasichuanfood.com

Steps

Load a pot with enough water and bring it to a boiling. Add a small pinch of salt and 1/4 tsp. vegetable cooking oil and cook the green beans for 2-3 minutes. Transfer out and drain. Salt and oil added can help to keep the green color of the beans. 
Chinese vegetable green beans|chinasichuanfood.com
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.
Chinese vegetable green beans|chinasichuanfood.com
Chinese vegetable green beans|chinasichuanfood.com

 

Beans with oilve vegetable|chinasichuanfood.com

Green Beans with Chinese Olive Vegetable

Delicious green beans with Chinese olive vegetable.
5 from 12 votes
Print Pin Rate
Cuisine: Chinese
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Servings: 2
Calories: 170kcal
Author: Elaine

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 1/4 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

Calories: 170kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Sodium: 8mg | Potassium: 263mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 865IU | Vitamin C: 16.2mg | Calcium: 52mg | Iron: 1.3mg

Beans with oilve vegetable|chinasichuanfood.com

 

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39 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    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!

  2. 5 stars
    We made this after making the olive fried rice and it was so good and so easy to make! Thank you for the recipe! 🙂

    1. 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.

  3. 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!

    1. Yes, Andrew. It is a hidden star just like Ya Cai from Sichuan. I use lots of olive vegetables in my daily cooking too.

  4. 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!

    1. 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.

  5. 5 stars
    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!

  6. 5 stars
    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.

  7. Can you tell us how to make this Chinese preserved olive vegetable? I’d rather make my own rather than buying it.

  8. 5 stars
    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.