French beans with olive (橄榄菜)

I like french beans not just because of its taste but they keep rather well for awhile, unlike leafy veggies. I've cooked a couple of versions of french beans (see here and here).

 If you aren't sure what 橄榄菜 is, you can check this out (I'm too lazy to take a pic). It's commonly served as a side dish to porridge, alongside pickles and fermented beancurd.

I usually buy the AAA brand as it's nice and it doesn't contain preservatives.

French beans with olive (橄榄菜)

Ingredients:

• 1 handful of french beans
• 2 tablespoons olive (橄榄菜)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• water
• fish sauce to taste (optional)

Method:

1. Pluck both ends of the french bean and slice thinly, diagonally.
2. Fry 1 tablespoon of olive (橄榄菜) in a bit of oil in the wok. It is soaked in oil so you don't really need that much oil.
3. Add garlic and fry till fragrant.
4. Add the french beans. Fry a little while before adding water and letting it simmer.
5. Add the other tablespoon of olive (橄榄菜) and if the dish is still not salty enough you can add some fish sauce to taste.
6. Dish and serve.

The reason for separating the amount of olive (橄榄菜) to be used in the cooking process: 

By the time the french beans are cooked, the olive added at the beginning of the cooking would have lost (or almost lost) its taste. Thus, the adding of the olives at the end of the cooking retains the taste of olives, which goes well with the french beans.