Silver Olive and Sweet-Sour Pickled Ginger Steamed Pork Ribs

Why people make this dish

Summer heat has a way of dampening the appetite, and in Cantonese food culture, that is exactly when you reach for something tangy and aromatic to coax the stomach back to life. Silver olives (yin nian) are a seasonal fruit with a short harvest window — naturally tart and fragrant, they are used in Cantonese cooking much like a flavour enhancer, their acidity cutting through the richness of pork and sparking digestive juices.

Nourilo had a batch of homemade sweet-sour pickled young ginger already waiting in the fridge, and the combination with fresh silver olives and black bean paste on pork ribs is something he describes as a straightforward weekday treat: prepare in half an hour, steam in twelve minutes, and the table is ready. The sweet-sour, salty, sesame-laced sauce makes plain rice disappear effortlessly.