Chinese Mustard Greens

Chinese mustard greens are not as pungent as the Western variety. They have thicker stems, which are prized for their special slightly sweet flavor. In Chinese markets you can buy either stems alone or the whole vegetable. The stems and leaves can be cut up like bok choy and stir-fried or added to soups. They are especially delicious with fresh squid. The stems only are used for pickling.

Next to drying, pickling is the most common Chinese technique for preserving vegetables. The sharp tang of pickled vegetables makes a marvelous addition to stir-fried dishes (try substituting them for the asparagus in Beef with Asparagus); they are particularly good in Rice Porridge. To pickle, you need a covered crock or glass container (metal containers react with the acidity of the brine). The vegetables simply soak in the brine, retaining their crispness but “cooking” in the same way a fish “cooks” in seviche. Although stems of mustard greens make a traditional pickle, other vegetables, such as carrots, Chinese radishes, red radishes, and turnips, can also be pickled. Keep the vegetables, once pickled, in the brine in glass jars in the refrigerator. Although the refrigerator slows down the pickling action, the longer you leave them, the sharper they get. To use pickled vegetables, rinse them and cut them as you would fresh vegetables.