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Winter means dongyancai on the dinner table
By Xu Wenwen |
December 8, 2011, Thursday
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PICKLED bok choy is a traditional food in Hangzhou during the winter. In the old days, most people made their own, but now it is more common to buy it in supermarkets. Xu Wenwen takes a big bite.
As winter approaches, Hangzhou people are stocking up on bok choy to make dongyancai. Dongyancai, which means vegetable preserved in winter, is a popular dish that originated in Hangzhou.
It is considered compulsory for Hangzhou people to serve it in winter, especially at Chinese Lunar New Year.
Large pieces of bok choy are chosen to make dongyancai. The vegetable is first dried in the sun for two days and is then pickled in a giant vat. The average vat can hold 25 kilograms of pickled bok choy.
The bok choy is sprinkled with salt before being put in the vat. Once two or three layers of bok choy are in the vat, someone stomps on them.
It's quite an eye-opener to see people stomping - barefoot, of course - on vegetables in a large vat. It is said that humans weigh enough to compress the vegetables so air can be avoided in the vat, otherwise the food will be oxidized and go sour. Thus, the heavier the person is that does the stomping, the better the dongyancai.
Once the bok choy is completely compacted, people lay large stones on top to fill the vat. The vat is then sealed for a month and the dongyancai is usually ready just before Lunar New Year.
The preserved dish is salty, sour and crunchy. It makes for a great appetizer. Today young people mostly buy dongyancai in supermarkets. Only old-fashioned Hangzhou residents still make their own.
Some dongyancai dishes:
? Dongyancai fried with winter bamboo
Wash the dongyancai and winter bamboo (the stout ones, the slim ones are spring bamboo), cut them into slices and fry them together. Pork, mushroom and peppers can be added as you like. The fried dish is also frequently used in spring rolls.
? Dongyancai soup
The soup requires dongyancai, winter bamboo, dried shrimp and bean sprouts. The recipe is simple. Lightly fry dongyancai and winter bamboo, add water, dried shrimp and bean sprouts. Heat until fully boiled. Mushrooms can also be added according to preference.
? Eight-treasure dish
"Eight treasure" is an exaggeration as there are only five ingredients - dongyancai, winter bamboo, fried bean curd, black fungus (marinated in water for one day before cooking) and carrots.
As winter approaches, Hangzhou people are stocking up on bok choy to make dongyancai. Dongyancai, which means vegetable preserved in winter, is a popular dish that originated in Hangzhou.
It is considered compulsory for Hangzhou people to serve it in winter, especially at Chinese Lunar New Year.
Large pieces of bok choy are chosen to make dongyancai. The vegetable is first dried in the sun for two days and is then pickled in a giant vat. The average vat can hold 25 kilograms of pickled bok choy.
The bok choy is sprinkled with salt before being put in the vat. Once two or three layers of bok choy are in the vat, someone stomps on them.
It's quite an eye-opener to see people stomping - barefoot, of course - on vegetables in a large vat. It is said that humans weigh enough to compress the vegetables so air can be avoided in the vat, otherwise the food will be oxidized and go sour. Thus, the heavier the person is that does the stomping, the better the dongyancai.
Once the bok choy is completely compacted, people lay large stones on top to fill the vat. The vat is then sealed for a month and the dongyancai is usually ready just before Lunar New Year.
The preserved dish is salty, sour and crunchy. It makes for a great appetizer. Today young people mostly buy dongyancai in supermarkets. Only old-fashioned Hangzhou residents still make their own.
Some dongyancai dishes:
? Dongyancai fried with winter bamboo
Wash the dongyancai and winter bamboo (the stout ones, the slim ones are spring bamboo), cut them into slices and fry them together. Pork, mushroom and peppers can be added as you like. The fried dish is also frequently used in spring rolls.
? Dongyancai soup
The soup requires dongyancai, winter bamboo, dried shrimp and bean sprouts. The recipe is simple. Lightly fry dongyancai and winter bamboo, add water, dried shrimp and bean sprouts. Heat until fully boiled. Mushrooms can also be added according to preference.
? Eight-treasure dish
"Eight treasure" is an exaggeration as there are only five ingredients - dongyancai, winter bamboo, fried bean curd, black fungus (marinated in water for one day before cooking) and carrots.
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