橄榄菜毛豆 / Edamame With Olive Vegetable¶
🖼️Image¶
✒️About This Recipe¶
Congee (粥) is a staple breakfast in China, and olive vegetable (橄榄菜) is a popular side dish that accompanies it. Predominantly enjoyed by Cantonese in Guangdong province, olive vegetable actually originated from Teochew, Guangdong. Since both mustard greens and olives are local specialties, it’s no surprise that locals began preserving them long before refrigerators existed.
This dish takes many forms, as different regions in China preserve their own local vegetables. For example, Edamame With Brassica Juncea (雪菜毛豆) is perhaps the most popular variation of edamame with preserved vegetables. However, I prefer the olive vegetable version because, much like Westerners’ love for olive oil, its flavor is immensely robust.
Edamame are unripe soybeans—the term “edamame” is Japanese, while in Chinese they are known as Hairy Beans (毛豆). Like soybeans, edamame are a rich source of complete protein, supplying all the essential amino acids needed in the absence of meat ingredients. Both ingredients are easily accessible: edamame is commonly sold frozen in Asian supermarkets, and olive vegetable is shelf-stable and can be purchased online (pengsheng brand is recommended). Together, they form a nutritional, flavorful, and quick dish that perfectly complements the mild taste of congee, making it an excellent option when fresh ingredients are scarce.
🥦Ingredients¶
Edamame [a handful]
Olive vegetable [2 tbsp]
🧂Seasoning¶
🔢Directions¶
Boil plenty of water in a large pan
Add frozen edamame and keep boiling for 5 minutes (undercooking can cause poisoning, overcooking results in a mushy mess)
Immediately strain and dump edamame in a pan of cool water (so as to stop the residual heat from overcooking the beans)
Remove pods if any
Combine edamame with olive vegetable and mix well