Steamed french beans with preserved olive leaves

I don’t know why but most children love eating preserved olive leaves more than other types of condiments.  It is really delicious eaten with plain congee. Some children don’t like eating beans but they will eat the beans cooked this way.

Preserved olive leaves are not made from olive leaves. Actually, it is made with a combination of minced green olives and Chinese mustard greens. The basic process is to boil the green olives for half of an hour, then stir-fry it with Chinese mustard greens with oil and a few choice spices. This unique concoction originated in Chao Zhou and the cuisine from this region is called Teochew or Chiu-chow cuisine. Nowadays there are so many brands to choose from.

Ingredients

1 pack dwarf French beans

3 tbsp preserved olive leaves

Remove the ends of the beans, wash and place on a heat proof plate

Place the plate of beans in the steamer

Cover and steam the beans until cooked

Transfer the steamed beans to a mixing bowl

Mix thoroughly

Transfer the beans to a serving platter