Preparation, plus cooking: 15 min | Level: Easy

Nothing beats a yummy hot dish you can prepare in 15 min. The secret to this dish is Chinese olives. Yes, Chinese has olives too! They are also fermented but taste very different from table olives. They are sweeter, softer, and more moist, with a texture that resemble dried apricot. Taste-wise, they resemble Chinese fermented black beans. Which is why they are often placed next to each other in the same aisle of Asian supermarkets. This is an important tip as many Chinese do not know about salted olive. If you ask the staff, many will tell you they don’t carry it. But don’t despair yet, ask where they keep fermented black beans and look for the olives in the proximity. Salted olives have to be one of the best kept secrets of Chinese, or more specifically Guangdong, cuisine.

Kitty initially hesitates sharing this recipe on the blog because it introduces two unfamiliar must-have ingredients: Chinese olives and ground bean sauce. Both require a visit to your neighbourhood Asian shops as they are  not something you could easily find in a Safeway. But, everyone who tries this dish loves it.  And secondly, once you have these two items in your kitchen, you could do many dishes with them. So he caved and shared this secret with the world. You could expect to see future recipes calling for them again, together or separately.

List of ingredients for easy copy and pasting:

• 1lb fresh green beans
• 6 pieces (or ~2 Tbsp) Chinese style salted olive
• 4 cloves (or ~1.5 Tbsp) garlic
• 1.5 Tbsp ground bean sauce
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp Chinese rice (white) wine (optional)