Recipes

Fresh mustard greens are wilted, then buried in a time-honored Sichuan brine crock, slowly souring into the backbone of fish-flavored stews and hot pots.

Radish strips are salted to shed water, then tossed with pickled chilies, rice vinegar, and sugar. Fifteen minutes later you have a crunchy, sour-hot nibble.

Fresh small cucumbers are tucked into a jar of leftover brine from store-bought sour pickles, an effortless shortcut that captures that classic tangy Russian flavor.

A homestyle chili sauce blending goat-horn peppers with generous garlic and ginger, briefly boiled to sterilize, based on a mother's handwritten family formula.

Red chilies are hand-chopped and folded into a pungent mash of garlic, onion, liquor, and salt, then left to ferment. This homemade chopped-chili sauce is the backbone of countless Hunan dishes.

Blanched cabbage quarters are packed with a lactic acid starter and fermented until tangy, a modern take on the region's beloved sour staple.

Blanched napa cabbage is submerged in a probiotic fermentation brine and pressed beneath weights, letting gentle acidity develop into the clean, sour backbone of countless home dishes.

Shredded mustard root kneaded with vinegar, sugar, and a little salt, then sealed tightly under wrap so trapped pungency builds into its signature nose-tingling kick.

Simmered soy, sugar and salt form a cooled brine for green radish slices layered with chilies, ginger and garlic, producing a colorful, savory-crunchy refrigerator pickle.

Radish cut into connected accordion slices keeps its shape while brining, the intricate cutting technique letting the sweet-sour marinade reach every layer evenly.

Salted radish strips get squeezed dry, then tumbled in a vivid mix of garlic, vinegar, chili oil, sesame oil and more, a same-day crunchy side that keeps well refrigerated.

Tropical passion fruit pulp and emerald kiwi cubes share the pot with rock sugar, simmered until thick, then jarred hot for a fragrant, tangy breakfast treat.