Pickled mustard greens are a popular dish in

Hmong cuisine Hmong cuisine is the cuisine of the Hmong people of China, Southeast Asia and the Hmong American community in the United States. The vast majority of dishes that make up the Hmong cuisine are not actually unique to Hmong communities but rather bl ...

. In Laotian it’s called . The dish is traditionally made by putting fresh

mustard greens ''Brassica juncea'', commonly brown mustard, Chinese mustard, Indian mustard, leaf mustard, Oriental mustard and vegetable mustard, is a species of mustard plant. Cultivar ''Brassica juncea'' cultivars can be divided into four major subgroups ...

into a container, typically a large pot, along with

rice water Rice water is a suspension of starch obtained by draining boiled rice or by boiling rice until it completely dissolves into the water. It may be used as a weak gruel for invalids. It is especially effective in the treatment of diarrhea such as ...

chillies Chili peppers (also chile, chile pepper, chilli pepper, or chilli), from Nahuatl '' chīlli'' (), are varieties of the berry-fruit of plants from the genus ''Capsicum'', which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for ...

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...

, and other spices if desired. The pot is then left usually at room temperature or in a sunny spot to ferment. After a few days, the pickled mustard is ready to eat. In modern practice,

vinegar Vinegar is an aqueous solution of acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains 5–8% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting simple sugars to eth ...

is sometimes added to the mixture to speed up the preparation of the dish. "Pickled mustard greens" is a common dish across East and Southeast Asia, although the English phrase is non-specific. In China there is (), made with a leafy mustard variety called (), and in Southern China , made with mustard leaf. Japanese pickled mustard greens are called (), which is marinated in vinegar, sugar, salt, and an

umami Umami ( from ja, 旨味 ), or savoriness, is one of the five basic tastes. It has been described as savory and is characteristic of broths and cooked meats. People taste umami through taste receptors that typically respond to glutamates and ...

soy-based sauce.

References

Hmong cuisine {{Laos-cuisine-stub