[calming instrumental music playing]
[narrator] It takes seven years to grow and 30 years to reach fruition (/frʊ’ɪʃ(ə)n/),
Teochew people admire its hard-earned flavor.
This culinary (/ˈkʌlənəri/) ingredient is regarded by Teochew people as an irreplaceable flavor (/ɪrɪ’pleɪsəb(ə)l/).

[horns honking]
CHAOSHAN
Sanzhong night market, Teochew people’s favorite place for late night eating.

SANZHONG NIGHT MARKET
There is a particular type of beverage you can find here.
It tastes bitter at first.
But after savoring /ˈseɪvə/ it, the sweetness will gradually appear.
This is the Teochew people’s secret pleasure.
The fruit of this beverage came from a place 40 kilometers away.

JINZAO TOWN, SHANTOU
It is past early October with reduced rainfall in Jinzao, a town in the Rongjiang Plain area.
The temperature is stillaround 20 degrees Celsius.
The forest is filled with a fresh fragrance.

[birds chirping]
November is the harvest season for olives.
The olive trees of this forest are over 80 years old.
Up to 30 kilograms of olives can be harvested from each tree.
Yang has been waiting all year long for the harvest season.
The green olive came from the subtropical (亚热带的) zone of Southern China.
In the town of Jinzao, the temperature is mostly warm throughout the year.
The area does not experience harsh winters, which provides the perfect condition for olives to grow.
Tannin and polyphenol enable a bit of bitterness in the olives.
However, as digestive enzymes (/’enzaɪm/酶) from our saliva (/sə’laɪvə/唾液) dissolve the carbohydrates from the olives, its sweetness slowly appears.

Eating fresh olives, the taste may be too dynamic for foreigners, but Teochew people definitely enjoy it.
[slurping]
Less than 100 hours after being harvested from the tree, an olive loses its nutrients.
It begins to shrink as it loses its moisture.
However, Teochew people have ways to preserve its flavor.

Today, Yang is going to make a Teochew special dish with freshly picked olives.
The local folks call it “Zaxian.”

PRESERVED RADISH
The most popular staple food in the area is white porridge.
RADISH STRIPS
Zaxian is best served with white porridge.
PICKLED CABBAGE
The aroma of rice, complimented by Zaxian, is a recipe for a great appetite.

After being soaked in water for four days, the bitter and sour taste fades off while the fibres soften.

[fire crackling]
To completely eliminate the bitterness, boiling with a gentle fire is required.
After 13 hours, as the olives turn black, tannin (/’tænɪn/丹宁酸) and polyphenol (/ˌpɔli’fi:’nɔl/多酚) are now dissipated (/ˈdɪsəpeɪt/) in the high temperature.
The bitterness of the olives is gone.
It is now waiting for a new partner in the pot.

PICKLED LEAF MUSTARD
Mustard marinated for six months, fermented for its lactic acid.
It is sour and delicious, and can be used to combine with many dishes.
After adding a bit of salt for flavoring, the olives are now fully cooked, soft and almost ready to serve.
Peanut oil is added for its glossy lookover the olives, and its rich aroma.
After a taste of this delicious olive dish, the aroma may linger up to three minutes long.

STEWED OLIVE
In every olive-producing place in the world, fresh olives will always be processed, not only to alter its flavor, but to preserve it as well.
In Chaoshan, freshly picked green olives only stay fresh for three days.
However, the rich and delicious olive dish can enjoyed by Teochew people throughout the year.
Zaxian seem simple and plain, but it is actually a big part of Teochew people’s daily life.
It seems every olive lover here…

OLIVE GRIT
…can turn simple olives into something magical.

YIXI TOWN, CHAOZHOU CITY
The majority of the olive trees in the Teochew area are free grown.
The tallest could reach up to 20 meters.
They are more lush and healthier than those grown from olive plantations.
Yixi village of Chaozhou, a place of a 500-year-old forest of olive trees.
A massive number of food lovers gather here every weekend.
And every dish they serve here is olive related.
Olives that are used in restaurants are all provided by the local forest.
Those trees are centuries old, but are still healthy and prosperous.
Freshly collected olives are firm and bountiful, the perfect ingredient for cooking.
After 30 minutes of boiling pig lung, it is now time for seasoning.
The recipe awaits the introduction of olives.
Unlike other olive dishes, olives are used here for their sour taste.
They are sliced and washed before being added to the soup.
The flavor of the olive removes the greasy texture of the meat resulting in the best taste from the olive and the meat.
After 20 minutes, the olives have become softer.
The sourness has now blended into the soup.

OLIVE PORK LUNG SOUP
With the savoury flavor from the pig bones and lungs and the sour taste of olive, this mouth-watering olive pig lung soup is finally complete.

[meows]
I’ll make more.
-Is it delicious?-Yeah.
In Teochew, olives can be used in many dishes,
OLIVE AND RADISH SOUP
for different purposes, for health or for its flavor.

OLIVE AND SEA SNAIL SOUP
It is believed that the healthy component of olives is comparable to ginseng.

OLIVE WINE
Local folks believe whether eaten fresh or cooked, olives can provide everything that one needs…

OLIVE WITH STEAMED FISH
…for a healthy diet.

OLIVE WITH STEWED INTESTINES
Working 22 years in the kitchen, this master chef is going to cook something olive related.
And the key ingredient is in this urn.
In the urn are dark olives,

CHINESE DARK OLIVE
which are different from normal olives.
Their appearance, taste and texture are very different from the green olive.
The surface is dark. The texture is rough.
The seed is large. The water and sugar retention is low.
It is unsuitable to eat uncooked.
However, it can easily be cooked into something unique.

SALTY CHINESE DARK OLIVES
Soak it in lukewarm salt water for eight hours.
This removes its bitterness and will release its plum-like aroma.
Then its fibre will soften.
Salty dark olive is a great seasoning for other dishes.
It also has similarities to Chenpi(sun-dried tangerine peels).
Fry it to release its flavor.
Combine with fresh yellow croaker.
It only takes six minutes of steaming.
Plain croaker fish meat easily absorbs the complex flavor of dark olive.
180 degrees Celsius of hot oil completely releases the aroma of the dark olive.
With the freshness of the fish combined with the complex fruit-like aroma, the dish becomes a flavorful experience.

OLIVE AND STEAMED FISH
[birds chirping]
A simple olive, over a thousand years, constantly evolves and enriches its flavor.
To Teochew people, it’s not just a delicious taste.
It is also a nostalgia (/nɒˈstældʒə/对过去美好时光的留恋，恋旧；怀旧) of home.
CHAOSHAN