5 Preserved Olive Vegetable Recipes: A Flavourful Journey 橄榄菜食谱汇总

A compilation of preserved olive vegetable recipes that goes beyond a side dish for rice porridge.

Preserved olive vegetable is made up of preserved olives and preserved mustard greens. It is called 橄榄菜 (gan lan cai) in Mandarin and hail from 潮汕 (chao shan), Southern China. The preserved olives and mustard leaves add a unique and flavorful taste to other foods. It is versatile and can be used in stir-fries, steamed dishes, soups or on its own.

To me, it has always been a side dish for rice porridge. A generous dollop of preserved olive vegetable can turn a plain bowl of rice porridge into steamy magic.

https://www.facebook.com/carimakan126 posted 10 recipes using preserved olive vegetables on Facebook. I liked 5 of them and is keen to try them out so I translated them into English. The first three do not contain meat, suitable for vegetarians. The last two recipes feature ground pork. Enjoy!

Preserved Olive Vegetable Recipes

Recipe: Stir-fried String Beans or French Beans

This recipe works with any type of fresh beans.

Ingredients

• 1 packet of string beans
• 3 tbsp preserved olive vegetable
• Cooking oil & sesame seed oil

Directions

1. Wash the string beans well. Trim the ends away. Cut into short strips.
2. Heat 1 tbsp of cooking oil in a frying pan. Add the string beans and cook till slightly soft.
3. Add the 3 tbsp of preserved olive vegetable. Stir-fry well.
4. Remove the cooked string beans onto a serving plate, drizzle with some sesame seed oil.

Video Tutorial

Recipe: Stir-fried Edamame

Ingredients

• 500g edamame, washed
• 2 red chili, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp preserved olive vegetable
• 1 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• Water

Directions

1. Heat the cooking oil in a frying pan.
2. Fry the chili till fragrant. Add the edamame and fry for a minute.
3. Add the preserved olive vegetable and stir well.
4. Add a few tbsp water, cover and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes.
5. Add the soy sauce to season if necessary.

Recipe: Steamed Luffa or Sponge Gourd

Ingredients

• 1 luffa or sponge gourd 丝瓜 (si gua)
• 1 bundle of glass noodle or green bean vermicelli 粉丝 (fen si)
• 1 small green chili and red chili
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped finely
• 1 tbsp preserved olive vegetable
• 1 tsp preserved bean paste 豉油 (chi you)
• 2 tbsp cooking oil

Directions

1. Soak the green bean vermicelli to soften.
2. Cut the red and green chili into thin slices.
3. Place the softened vermicelli on a plate.
4. Peel the luffa and slice thinly cross-section wise
5. Place the luffa pieces on top of the vermicelli
6. Heat the cooking oil in a small pan, fry the garlic, and preserved olive vegetable. Mix in the preserved bean paste
7. Spread the mixture on top of the luffa slices
8. Steam on high for 5 minutes
9. Garnish with chili slices and serve

Recipe: Steamed Meat Loaf

Ingredients

• 250g ground pork
• 2 eggs
• 3 tbsp preserved olive vegetable
• 3 tbsp of cornstarch
• Some sesame seed oil and chopped spring onion

Directions

1. Place the ground pork into a mixing bowl, add the eggs and preserved olive vegetable.
2. Mix well. Add the eggs and cornstarch.
3. Mix well again.
4. Place the meat mixture into a shallow plate and shape into a thin loaf.
5. Heat the water in the steamer or pot to a boil.
6. Lower to medium heat, place the plate of meat loaf, and steam for 25 minutes.
7. When the meat loaf is cooked, remove from heat, garnish with chopped spring onion, and drizzle with sesame seed oil.

Recipe: Steamed Tofu

Ingredients

• 1 box of Chinese tofu
• 100g ground pork
• 3 tbsp preserved olive vegetable
• 1 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp sesame seed oil, 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1 tbsp minced ginger, 1 tbsp minced spring onion
• Chopped chili (optional)

Directions

1. Marinate the ground pork with the soy sauce, minced ginger, minced spring onion and preserved olive vegetable.
2. Unbox the Chinese tofu onto a steaming plate. Score the top of the tofu.
3. Spread the ground pork mixture on the top of the tofu
4. Bring the water in the electric steamer or steaming pot to a boil, place the plate of tofu in
5. Steam on high heat for 10 minutes or until the pork mixture is cooked.
6. Garnish with some chopped chili before serving

Video Tutorial

Watch how Preserved Olive Vegetable is Made: The Traditional Way

Ever wonder how preserved olive vegetable is made? I know there are olives, but I did not know what the other vegetable is.

This Chinese documentary introduces the fermenting and cooking process. 4 months of fermenting with coarse salt and 8 hours of slow cooking. It is not easy to make at home.

Shopping List

• Sin Guo – Preserved Hk Olive Vegetable Pickle 180g (Amazon)
• Chaoshan Collection Hong Kong Olive Vegetables 280g (Shopee)