Sichuan pickled vegetables (Sichuan pao cai 四川泡菜) have been around for thousands of years! You can dice them and serve on top of noodles, serve as a small appetizer topped with homemade chili oil, or just eat them straight from the jar!
I’ve heard many stories from Jie over the years of her going to her grandmother’s home and sneaking into the kitchen to pull long beans from the pickling crock that was tucked inside a dark lower cabinet.
I experienced this myself when Jie and I visited her grandparents' house in Lanzhou when we were first married. Although, we didn’t need to sneak because her grandparents were eager to show hospitality and share a family tradition.
When we moved to the U.S. in 2008 we longed for the sour taste of pao cai produced from natural lacto-fermentation that Jie often experienced in her grandmother’s kitchen. Our answer? Call Jie’s mom and get a lesson in traditional fermentation!
We wanted to share this recipe with others who share our love for traditional fermented foods. They are surprisingly easy to make but require a little TLC. If you want to know more about the background of pao cai, read on below, or feel free to skip straight to the recipe instructions at the bottom 🙂
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What is Chinese pao cai (泡菜)?
Pào cài refers to Chinese lacto-fermented picked vegetables. Lacto-fermentation is one of the oldest forms of food processing and was traditionally used to preserve vegetables to keep them from spoiling. During fermentation, sugars in the vegetables break down and lactic acid producing bacteria work to preserve the food.
Pao cai literally means “soaked or submerged vegetables” in Mandarin. Pao cai is sort of the generic word for pickled vegetables, but usually different types have specific names. There are at least 11 types of pao cai in China, some of which include Sichuan zha cai (pickled mustard greens) and Sichuan pao cai.
Sichuan pao cai is one of the most prevalent and discussed and is the type we make and keep on hand.
History of Sichuan pao cai
Early writings indicate that Sichuan pao cai dates back to the Shang Dynasty - the first Chinese dynasty (1600 to 1050 BCE). This means Sichuan pao cai has been around in some form for over 3,000 years. Sichuan pao cai crocks were discovered that date back to the Three Kingdoms Area (220 - 280).
History of salt in China
Sichuan has a long history of pickling, for good reason. It's one of the oldest known salt producing regions in the world. Wars have been fought over salt and salt is the foundation of fermentation. China is the oldest literate society still in existence so there are abundant writings going back thousands of years that give us clues.
Records indicate that salt production in China may date to as early as 6000 BC. Lake Yuncheng was fought over for centuries (at least) and the theory is that when the lake evaporated in the summer, people would harvest the salt. Even if salt production doesn’t go back to 6000 BC, written records are clear that salt was being produced in Sichuan since at least 3000 BC.
Interestingly, the book, Salt, says that natural gas was discovered from the early salt mines in China. Miners were dying from an unseen force and eventually they figured out that it was gas coming out of holes in the underground mine. They began to pipe the gas into cooking houses with bamboo pipes and used it to boil large iron pots filled with saltwater brine. When the water evaporated they would harvest the salt. This was the first known use of natural gas.
What are Sichuan pao cai crocks?
Chinese pickling crocks are specially designed jars. They can be made out of clear glass, which is what we use, or earthenware. They have a narrow opening and a moat around the outside (see picture below). The moat is filled with salt water. The opening is covered by a bowl-shaped top which sits in the water-filled moat and seals out oxygen while allowing the carbon dioxide produced during fermentation to escape. The narrow opening helps to keep vegetables submerged in the brine.
How to make Sichuan pao cai (四川泡菜)?
Sichuan pao cai is made by adding vegetables to a brine of salt water with an assortment of different additional ingredients, such as baijiu (Chinese grain alcohol), rock sugar, Sichuan peppercorns, Sichuan chilis, etc. The vegetables stay submerged in the brine and begin to ferment anywhere from 3 days to 2 weeks, depending on temperature, salt concentration, etc.
Salt-to-water ratio
We use 17 grams of salt per cup of water. The Male Market (check out their article) uses 14 grams per cup and you will find others using more. 17 grams per cup is very salty, but it does a good job of preventing unwanted growth and we like to keep our pickling brine for months, or even a year or more. We recommend you use a scale to measure the salt to ensure accuracy.
Temperature
Higher temperatures will cause your vegetables to ferment faster and lower temps will slow down the fermentation process, so be mindful of this when making your pao cai.
Light
Keeping your picking jar covered or in a dark cabinet will help prevent the growth of unwanted molds or kahm yeast. Previously, I left my jar on the counter in bright light and it began to grow small pieces of mold. I skimmed the mold off the top, added more salt water, and then cover the jar and the mold did not return.
Vegetable Types
We typically use green beans, carrots, celtuce, celery, radishes, cabbage, cauliflower, ginger, garlic. You can experiment and find the vegetables that work best for you!
What is the white film on top?
Occasionally a white film will form on top of the saltwater brine in your pickling jar. This is a harmless yeast called kahm yeast. While it is harmless, it doesn’t have a pleasant taste. You can skim the yeast off the surface and keep going.
Ingredients
Essential Ingredients
- Water
- Pickling salt
- Your favorite vegetables
- Baijiu (白酒) or any clear strong alcohol
Optional but recommended Ingredients
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Rock sugar
- Sichuan dried red pepper
- Sichuan peppercorns
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
First, calculate how much water you will need depending on the size of your pickling crock. We have a large crock so we prepare 4 quarts of water, using the 17 grams of salt per cup of water ratio.
Bring the water to a boil and add the salt. Stir to dissolve and then remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
While the water is cooling, chop the vegetables and then add them to the pickling jar along with the other seasonings (sugar, red peppers, etc) and baijiu.
Place a large piece of cabbage on top to help keep the vegetables submerged.
Pour the room temperature water over the vegetables in the pao cai crock. Fill to the top, leaving a couple of inches of room. Leaving less room for oxygen will help to inhibit mold growth.
Place the top on the crock and add the leftover saltwater brine to the moat. Cover the crock, or place in a dark cabinet. Check your vegetables every three days to see when your vegetables start to ferment and to discover the flavor that you prefer.
When the water turns cloudy and bubbles begin to rise you know the vegetables are starting to ferment. This picture shows the brine turning cloudy after 4 days. We started eating the vegetables at this point but continued to let them ferment longer and periodically added new vegetables to replenish the crock.
We’ve had vegetables take anywhere from 3 to 7 days to begin the fermentation process. You can eat the vegetables at any time, but in the beginning, they will taste just like saltwater vegetables without the distinctive sour flavor that arises from fermentation.
Have fun and experiment!
Top tip
Place a large piece of cabbage on top of other vegetables to help keep all of the vegetables submerged below the brine. You can also fill a clean ziplock bag with water and place it on top. We prefer the cabbage though because, unlike ziplock bags, cabbage can be eaten - win-win!
📖 Recipe
Sichuan Pickled Vegetables (pao cai 泡菜)
Ingredients
Essential Ingredients
- 4 quarts Water
- 272 grams Pickling salt Use 17 grams of salt for every 1 cup of water (total depends on your container size)
- Vegetables enough to fill your crock
- 1 ounce Baijiu (白酒 ) or any clear strong alcohol
Optional but recommended Ingredients
- 3 cloves Garlic
- 3 slices Ginger
- 8 pieces Rock sugar to taste
- 0.5 tablespoon Whole Sichuan peppercorns
- 3-4 whole Sichuan dried red peppers
Instructions
- First, calculate how much water you will need depending on the size of your pickling crock. We have a large crock so we prepare 4 quarts of water, using the 17 grams of salt per cup of water ratio. Adjust the amount to fit your pickling crock/jar.
- Bring the water to a boil and add the salt. Stir to dissolve and then remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
- While the water is cooling, chop the vegetables and then add them to the pickling jar along with the other seasonings (sugar, red peppers, etc) and baijiu.
- Place a large piece of cabbage on top to help keep the vegetables submerged.
- Pour the room temperature water over the vegetables in the pao cai crock. Fill to the top, leaving a couple of inches of room. Leaving less room for oxygen will help to inhibit mold growth.
- Place the top on the crock and add the leftover saltwater brine to the moat. Cover the crock, or place in a dark cabinet. Check your vegetables every three days to see when your vegetables start to ferment and to discover the flavor that you prefer.
- When the water turns cloudy and bubbles begin to rise you know the vegetables are starting to ferment. This picture shows the brine turning cloudy after 4 days. We started eating the vegetables at this point but continued to let them ferment longer and periodically added new vegetables to replenish the crock.
- We’ve had vegetables take anywhere from 3 to 7 days to begin the fermentation process. You can eat the vegetables at any time, but in the beginning, they will taste just like saltwater vegetables without the distinctive sour flavor that arises from fermentation.
Nutrition
Nutrition disclaimer
malaeats.com is created for informational purposes only. Although we do our best to provide nutritional information to our readers as a general guideline, we are not certified nutritionists and the nutritional values provided should be considered estimates. Numerous factors such as variations in fresh ingredients, brands purchased, etc. will alter the nutritional values in any recipe. Different online calculators also provide different results depending on their sources. To obtain accurate nutritional information for a recipe, please use your preferred nutrition calculator to determine nutritional information with the actual ingredients and quantities you used.
Food safety
We sometimes take for granted that we have years (or decades) of cooking experience, that the average visitor may not. Add to, or remove from, the list below with health and safety tips.
- Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw meat
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
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