Chaozhou-Olong Tea

Chaozhou-Olong Tea

Chaozhou Olong Tea is a geographical indication protected product.

　　    Olong tea is a well-known preserved vegetable delicacy from the Chaoshan region. It is loved not only by Chaoshan people at home and abroad but also highly praised by many outsiders who have tried it. Moreover, just like preserved radish and pickled vegetables, black olong tea is also an essential ingredient in Chaoshan cuisine. When used to stir-fry rice or steam meat, it imparts an indescribably rich and savory flavor. I’ve always wondered how tender green olives, when simmered with pickled vegetable leaves, turn into the shiny, ink-black black olong tea. And under what circumstances was this uniquely flavored black food invented?

　　There is a folk legend about the creation of black olong tea: Every summer, after the fierce typhoons sweep through, olive groves are often littered with fallen olive blossoms. These blossoms are actually unripe green olives, which are still far from the autumn and winter harvest season. The fruits are small, green, tender, and have a sticky, astringent taste. A clever housewife, unwilling to let the olive blossoms rot on the ground, gathered a basketful and took them home to cook. In those days, every household had a pickled vegetable jar, and the top of the jar (the “jar head”) was usually piled with leftover pickled vegetable leaves (the “jar tail”). The clever housewife washed and chopped these pickled vegetable scraps and put them into an iron pot to simmer together with the olive blossoms. Her original intention was simply to make use of waste material for future consumption. Unexpectedly, a miracle occurred — and thus black olong tea was born.

　　From a technical perspective, the key step in inventing black olong tea is the simmering of olive resin. However, this technique and its application were already mastered by the ancestors of the Chaoshan people — the Nan Yue people — by at least the Tang Dynasty. This is because the olive is originally a fruit tree native to Nan Yue. In addition to enjoying eating the olive fruit, the Nan Yue people were also familiar with olive tree cultivation techniques and capable of comprehensively utilizing the various values of the olive tree.

　　The Tang Dynasty scholar Liu Xun recorded this in his work "Ling Biao Lu Yi" ("Record of Strange Things in the Southern Region"): “The branches of the olive tree are all tall and upright, and its fruit ripens only in late autumn. The people of the south value it and chew it raw. Although its taste is bitter and astringent, its fragrance surpasses even that of spikenard. There are wild varieties whose fruits are abundant and trees are towering, making them impossible to climb. But if you carve a shallow cut about an inch deep into the root, and place salt inside, the fruits will all fall off by the next evening. The joints of the branches secrete a fatty resin like peach gum. The people of the south gather it, mix it with the tree bark and leaves, and simmer it into a substance as dark as black maltose, called olive sugar. It is used to seal gaps in mud boats; once dried, it becomes even stronger than glue or lacquer, and becomes even firmer when wet.” Here it is mentioned that the joints, bark, and leaves of the olive tree secrete a milky resin, which, after simmering, turns into a black, maltose-like substance, hence called olive sugar.

　　Olive resin is not only used as an adhesive for ships; high-quality resin can also be made into spices or medicinal ingredients. The Song Dynasty scholar Zhou Qufei mentioned a type of “olive incense” in his work "Ling Wai Dai Da" ("Answers from Beyond the Mountains"), stating that it is “formed from the knots of olive wood branches, resembling black gelatinous candy, possessing a uniquely crisp and otherworldly aroma, superior even to coptis and frankincense.”

　　The olive culture inherited by the Chaoshan people from the Nan Yue people is first reflected in their fondness for olive fruits. Chewing olives is like drinking gongfu tea — the subtle flavors are hard for outsiders to understand. Local chronicles place the greatest emphasis on the quality of olives when recording them. For example, the Jiaqing-era "Chenghai County Annals" describes olives as: “Those with pointed and small fruits are the best; round and large ones are slightly inferior.” The Guangxu-era "Haifeng County Annals" states: “Its varieties are either green or yellow. The green ones are astringent, while only the yellow ones with pointed tips and three edges are considered excellent.” The three-edged olive mentioned here originates from Lutang Township in Jinyu, Chaoyang. In 2005, a 500-year-old “olive king” tree bore 158 kilograms of fruit, which was auctioned for 527,000 yuan, setting an astonishing transaction record.

　　Secondly, it is reflected in the comprehensive utilization of olive trees. Olive trees are tall and upright, with light, loose, and soft wood. As Zhang Dai wrote in "Ye Hang Chuan" (“Night Voyage Boat”), “This wood can be used to make boats, and anything that passes through it will float.” According to ancient shipbuilding practices, the most distinctive feature was the absence of iron nails. With olive trees available, both the necessary timber and adhesive for shipbuilding could be sourced, making navigation a much easier task. Therefore, we can say that not only might the Chaoshan people’s black olong tea be related to olive sugar, but even their maritime lifestyle may be connected to it. This might also explain why the ancient Chaoshan merchants were so famous at sea, and why the ancient maritime route known as the “Ten-Thousand-Li Stone Dyke” started from Chaoshan, passed through the South China Sea islands, and reached distant foreign lands.