Overview
Chinese Name: 泡菜
English Name: Pickles; Kimchi
Category: Snack小吃
Main Ingredients: All kinds of vegetables
Pickles泡菜 refers to fermented vegetables for long-term storage. It is a vegetable lactic acid fermentation product soaked in low concentration salt solution. Common raw materials include cucumber, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, onion, celery, radish, carrot, turnip, beet, spring lettuce, tender ginger, tender lentil, concanavalin, green tomato, etc.
Kimchi is found all over the world, and its flavor varies with different practices. Among them, the Fuling pickle涪陵榨菜, French pickled cucumber法国酸黄瓜, and German sweet and sour cabbage德国甜酸甘蓝 are called the world’s three largest pickles. The prepared pickles are rich in lactic acid bacteria, which can help digestion. However, there are certain rules for making pickles, such as not touching raw water or oil, or it is easy to corrupt. If you eat contaminated pickles by mistake, you may have diarrhea or food poisoning.
Kimchi mainly depends on the fermentation of lactic acid bacteria to produce a large amount of lactic acid rather than salt osmotic pressure to inhibit spoilage microorganisms. Pickles use low concentration salt water or a small amount of salt to pickle various fresh and tender vegetables and then fermented by lactic acid bacteria to make a pickled product with a sour taste.
As long as the lactic acid content reaches a certain concentration and the product is isolated from the air, the purpose of long-term storage can be achieved. The salt content in pickles is 2% to 4%, which is a low-salt food.
Chinese pickles should have originated from the Shang商朝 and Zhou dynasties周朝 3100 years ago. Kimchi has a long history and is widely spread. Almost every family can cook it and everyone can eat it. Even at a banquet, they have to serve several dishes of pickles. According to Jia Sixie贾思勰‘s book Qi Min Yao Shu齐民要术 in the Northern Wei Dynasty北魏, there is a description of making pickles. It can be seen that at least 1400 years ago, China had a history of making pickles. In the Qing Dynasty清朝, people also took pickles as one of the dowries, which shows the position of pickles in people’s life.
The production technology of pickles is one of China’s long and exquisite culinary heritage.
Sichuan pickles are made by soaking, which is a real “pickle”. Its essence is that all kinds of vegetables can play a role in lactic acid fermentation through soaking in a closed environment, thus generating the unique flavor and taste of pickles. The container that provides a closed environment for lactic acid fermentation is the pickle jar.
In Sichuan, almost every family can make pickles. Every family has one or several pickle jars. The choice of pickle jars is especially important for the quality of the pickles. The pickle jar is generally made of pottery clay, glazed on both sides, and can also be made of glass fiber-reinforced plastics and coated iron, but it is required that these materials do not react with salt water or vegetables. In addition, the pickle jar also requires good glaze, no cracks, no trachoma, a good water seal along the jar, and a clear steel sound.
How to make Pickles
Ingredients：
- 250 grams of white radish
- 250 grams of carrots
- 100 grams of cucumbers
- 200 grams of morning pepper
- 1 piece of ginger
- some large materials
- some Chinese prickly ash
- 1 tablespoon cooking wine
- 2 tablespoons refined salt
- 3 tablespoons white sugar
Instruction:
- Step 1, Wash and drain the white radish and carrot, and cut them into strips; Rinse and cut the cucumber into pieces; Rinse the chili and drain the water; Peel and slice ginger.
- Step 2, Sprinkle radishes, carrots, and cucumbers with salt and let them stand for 24 hours; Sprinkle salt on the chili and leave it for more than 4 hours; Wrap Chinese prickly ash, large materials, and ginger with gauze to making spice package.
- Step 3, Put the pickled vegetables into a sealed bottle (jar) layer by layer, spread a layer of chili and ginger on every other layer of vegetables, and put the sachet in the center of the sealed bottle; Press the prepared vegetables tightly, add the proper amount of water, seal them, and serve them after about 7 days.
Video Guide
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