Everything about Zha Cai totally explained
Zha cai (literally "pressed vegetable") is a type of
pickled mustard stem originating from
Sichuan,
China. Other
transliterations might include
cha tsai,
tsa tsai (
Mandarin Chinese); or
jar choy,
jar choi,
ja choi,
ja choy, or
cha tsoi (
Cantonese Chinese). In English, it's commonly known as
Sichuan vegetable,
Szechwan vegetable, or
Chinese pickled vegetable (although the latter term may also refer to any of a number of other
Chinese pickles).
The pickle is made from the knobby, fist-sized, swollen green stem of
Brassica juncea, subspecies
tatsai. The stem is first salted, pressed, and dried before being rubbed with hot
chile paste and allowed to
ferment in an earthenware jar. This preservation process is similar to that used to produce
Korean kimchi.
The taste is a combination of spicy, sour, and salty, while the aroma is similar to
sauerkraut with hot chili paste. Its unique texture -- crunchy, yet tender -- can only be vaguely compared to western
pickled cucumbers.
Zha cai is generally washed prior to use in order to remove the chili paste and excess salt coating the preserved vegetable. Depending on the region and the brand, the flavor can be on the sweet, spicy, salty, or sour side.
Although originating in Sichuan,
zha cai is also used frequently in the cuisines of southern China, particularly in a soup made with ground pork and
mifen, and also as a condiment added to
rice congee. It is generally sliced into thin strips and used in small amounts due to its extreme saltiness, although this saltiness can be tempered somewhat by soaking the strips in water prior to use.
A famous and popular Chinese dish featuring
zha cai is "Noodles with
Zha Cai and Shredded Pork" (榨菜肉絲麵;
zhà cài ròusī miàn).
Zha cai is also an ingredient of
ci fan tuan, a popular dish in
Shanghai cuisine.
In Japan, the pickle is common in Chinese restaurants (though it's usually less spicy, to suit Japanese tastes), and it's transliterated into Japanese as
zāsai (katakana: ; kanji: ).
Further Information
Get more info on 'Zha Cai'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://zha_cai.totallyexplained.com">Zha cai Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
