I also made J. Kenji Lopez-Alt’s Spring Vegetables with Olives and Sichuan Peppercorns recipe for Thursday’s dinner party.

In addition to a variety of vegetables, the twist ingredient in this are the “kalamata or other black olives.” Kenji notes “the end result is a sort of play on the traditional Sichuan combination of long green beans stir-fried with preserved mustard root (ya cai, which has a pungent, salty flavor similar to that of olives).”

For the stir-fry, the vegetables are first blanched in boiling water. Mushrooms are then stir-fried until browned and crisped, then removed. In the empty wok, dried chiles and the Sichuan peppercorns are fried, and then the aromatics are added, including the minced olives. The vegetables and mushrooms are returned and then a simple sauce of soy sauce and Chinkiang vinegar added.

I was concerned that the final dish might be too spicy, and it was indeed spicy, but tolerable, especially with the rice and additional dishes with the dinner. I think the minced olives subbed in very well for ya cai. I think the final dish was very good. I always seem to need more good vegetable dishes.

I might make this again. I think Megan might not necessarily identify the olives in the dish. Of course I could also make it with ya cai, which I’ve been able to source here.

I am cooking my way through J. Kenji Lopez-Alt’s The Wok cookbook. Read more about it.