Sichuan Old Pickled Mustard Greens

Buy fresh and crisp green vegetables.

Wash and drain the excess water. The containers used for washing and serving vegetables must be clean and free of oil.

Because fresh vegetables take up a lot of space when placed directly into the pickle jar, it is necessary to sprinkle a little salt beforehand to remove some of the moisture before putting them into the jar. You can also boil a pot of lightly salted water, let it cool, and then soak the vegetables in it for 1-2 days to remove some of the moisture. When the vegetables become soft and their volume shrinks, they are ready.

If there is already aged brine in the pickle jar at home, you can directly put the vegetables into the old brine for pickling, and then add salt and high-proof white liquor as needed. Then cover the jar, fill the rim with water to isolate it from oxygen, and leave the rest to time, allowing the vegetables to ferment.

For those who need to prepare a new fermentation jar, you can use some of the old jar's liquid as a starter. Meanwhile, boil a pot of water, add an appropriate amount of salt, two pieces of star anise, and a small handful of Sichuan peppercorns to extract the aroma. After the water cools, strain out the star anise and peppercorns and pour it into the pickling jar. Then add the vegetables and pour in some white liquor before sealing the jar. If you don't have liquid from an old jar, you can buy a bottle of pickled chili or wild chili from the supermarket, and pour both the chili and its liquid into the jar. The salted cabbage should be salty rather than bland.

Pickled cabbage.

Finished product. Slightly sour in taste, golden in color, fragrant, and appetizing. It is pickled in early winter of the first year and ready to eat in the spring of the following year.