The wonderful thing about Chinese food is how diverse and deep the cuisine is. The more you delve into into it the more there is. It could be a conversion with a friend, a random article in a food magazine, a new dish discovered at a restaurant, or simply a stroll through your neighborhood Chinese food market or wet market.
This simple and simply yummilicious Stir Fry Long Beans with Olive Vegetable Sauce 橄欖菜炒長豆 was a result of discovering a wonderful traditional Chinese sauce made from Chinese olives through one of our readers. Thanks Jackie!
This amazing sauce called Olive Vegetable Sauce, or 橄欖菜, is a Chinese Chiuchow 潮州 traditional sauce, a gorgeously black mess made from Chinese olive, mustard greens, soy sauce, spices and oil. The taste is fascinatingly complex: savory yet slightly sweet, with a touch of licorice, and just a touch of 甘, that subtle bitterness that the Cantonese prize so much.
Though the flavor of 橄欖菜 is strong it is a flavor that is perfect for complementing any number of meat and vegetable dishes.
The olives used in the sauce are not the western type olives, but rather the fruit of the Canarium album tree. These Chinese olives, or 橄欖, are eaten fresh, dried and preserved, as in this case.
They are also coveted for their delicate, oily, almond flavored seeds that are a real delicacy in Chinese cuisine (and very expensive!) We have used these wonderful olive seeds, or 欖仁, before in our Five Nut Mooncake Recipe 五仁月餅.
We used long beans 長豆, but you could use any sort of beans that you like. Whatever is fresh is what I like to go for, so I just take a walk through the wet market with a sharp eye out for the shiny bright eyed fresh from the farm vegetables.
A bit of ground pork, marinated in soy sauce and wine, as the last bit to tie everything together. This dish is so simple to make, so simple in the ingredients, but soooo yummilicious a result. You will be addicted to this dish, to this amazing chinese olive vegetable sauce! You will savor this dish and then start to personalize it, substituting your own ingredients into this versatile traditional Chinese dish.
Stir Fry Long Beans w/ Olive Vegetable橄欖菜炒長豆
Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 12 mins
Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 12 mins
Ingredients:
- 10 oz ground pork, 300g
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp Shao Hsing rice wine
- 1/2 tsp corn starch
- 1 tsp oil
- 1 bunch long beans
- 2 small chili peppers, chopped (optional)
- 2 tbsp olive vegetable sauce 橄欖菜
Directions:
Marinate ground pork in soy sauce, sugar, rice wine, starch and oil for at least 15 mins.
Wash beans, strain well and cut into bite sized lengths. Heat wok over medium high heat. When wok is hot add in 1 tbsp of oil, then add in ground pork and stir until the pork is cooked. Remove pork from wok.
Clean the wok. Heat wok over high heat. When wok is hot, add in 2 tbsp of oil, chili peppers if using and then the long beans. Stir until all the long beans are coated in oil, then cover and let cook for 1-2 mins until the beans are bright green, just cooked but still crunchy.
Add in the cooked ground pork and olive vegetable sauce and stir until incorporated and warmed through, about 15-20 secs. Turn off heat and scoop onto serving dish. Enjoy!
Veggie-licious Recipes at The Hong Kong Cookery:
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Hi Ellen, I've spent hours at work sneakily going through your blog- love the recipes and the content!
ReplyDeleteHey Jessica - Thanks! Good to know we're keeping you busy at work, hee-hee! ~ellen
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