Suan Cai Recipe (Pickled Chinese Mustard Greens)
Suan Cai is a Chinese take on pickles, made with Chinese mustard greens (gai choy). It’s a sour, bitter vegetable that becomes a quintessential addition to dishes like Taiwanese beef noodle soup after fermentation.
Equipment
- 1 glass jar air-tight glass jar.
Ingredients
- 1 pound Chinese mustard greens Approx. 453.592 grams.
- 1 tbsp sea salt Preferably Unrefined.
- 1 large onion cut in small pieces (optional)
- 1 tsp sichuan peppercorns (optional)
- 2 cloves garlic cut in small pieces (optional)
- 2 dried chili peppers cut in small pieces (optional)
Instructions
- Rinse and clean the mustard green leaves.
- Dab the leaves dry with a paper towel.
- Coat the leaves with salt and allow them to air-dry for one hour to extract excess water.
- Stuff the greens into the jar and sprinkle peppercorns or chili pepper between each leaf.
- Throw the garlic cloves and onions in.
- Fill the jar with water.
- Seal the jar. Store it under your kitchen sink or into your storage unit for fourteen days.
- Check upon them every day and shake the jar a bit.
- When the leaves become yellowish/sour it means it is done.
Notes
- Suan Cai, in its most basic form, is just salt, water, and vegetables.
- You can change up the flavor by adding other spices like sichuan peppercorns or dried chili peppers.
- Make sure to keep it in a cool, dark place while the fermentation occurs.
- The mustard greens are ready when they turn yellowish and sour.
- You can add a other ingredients to enhance the flavor according to your preference. For example you can add coriander or ginger as well or chili pepper.