Preserving stuff scares me. Or, rather, it’s the canning process that’s worrisome.
What if the jars explode while submerged in the hot water? Glass can’t possibly withstand that high of heat, right? Or what if I don’t sterilize properly and bacteria—unbeknownst to me—proliferates in said jar like some sort of invasive species, causing me and other eaters to fall ill?
These aren’t unfounded fears, but they’re not, well, founded either. An article or two on canning and preserving would easily assuage them. But, for now, I’ll stick to pickling and quick pickling (quickling, if you will).
Apples tinged with anise, celery sticks, and spicy peppers all scratch that pickle itch. However, if you ask me my favorite thing to pickle, the answer is slightly more vegetal and with origins far east of here: mustard greens.
Pickled mustard greens are ubiquitous in China’s Sichuan cuisine, which is where I first had them. Some are fermented for several weeks and others are pickled in vinegar—they’re like an all-in-one version of Korea’s kimchi and Japan’s pickles. The greens are found in soups, stir-fries, and noodles. They’re as happy with pork as they are with beef, fish, or even tripe and can be bought in vacuum sealed packages at the grocery store, just a squeeze and a julienne away from eating.
While the Chinese have several different types of mustard greens (some with larger stems, others with more leaf-like leaves), the grocery store around the corner from my house does not. It offers a single kind of mustard green—and it’s not of the Chinese variety. But, longing for some pickled greens and lacking transportation to the nearest Chinese grocery store, I decided to make do. However, the pickled greens’ peppery bite, the heat from the chile, and the subtle (also untraditional) garlic scent is better than making do.
And once you have a jar, here’s how to use it up:
- In noodle soup.
- Toss into stir-fries.
- Alongside fried eggs.
- And since we’re talking about eggs, in an egg sandwich.
- Chop the leaves some more and add them to dumpling filling.
- Add them to soba noodles.
- For some green-on-green, toss the pickle into a salad—like this one with ground pork.
- Add a handful to fried rice for a peppery bite.
- Alongside some super soy sauce-y chicken.
- As a light side dish to roast pork, or even pulled pork.
- Top congee with a few leaves.
Makes 1 quart
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 cups water
1/2 pound mustard greens, stemmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
3 red or green serrano chiles, spilt lengthwise
2 garlic cloves, crushed
See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.
How would you use pickled mustard greens? Tell us in the comments below!
Photos by Alpha Smoot, James Ransom, Bobbi Lin, and Mark Weinberg
Written by: Riddley Gemperlein-Schirm
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1 Comment
In the comments to this recipe: https://food52.com/recipes/21291-chinese-red-braised-pork
there's a good discussion about using stems and scraps from any cabbage or mustard to make Sichuan "preserved vegetable" - a pungent lacto-fermented flavor superstar that's right up there with XO sauce in its transformative power (information courtesy of the talented and generous BeijingRose). ;o)
See what other Food52 readers are saying.