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Most Chinese home chefs make this classic preserved Chinese recipe using vinegar and white sugar. This recipe allows the magic of lacto-fermentation to turn the ingredients into a superfood packed with probiotics, AND it's yummy too!
Pao Cai (Preserved Chinese Vegetables)
Pao Cai (Preserved Chinese Vegetables)
Chef Karen Wang Diggs
Chinese
Most Chinese home chefs make this classic preserved Chinese recipe using vinegar and white sugar. This recipe skips the sugar and allows the magic of lacto-fermentation to turn the ingredients into a superfood packed with probiotics, AND it's yummy too!
You can use either Kraut Source (with a wide-mouth quart-size mason jar or Chouami fermentation top with a 1000ml Le Parfait glass jar.
Ingredients
- 12 oz (340 g) baby bok choy, roughly chopped
- 1 Tablespoon sea salt
- 2 stalks scallions, chopped
- 3 - 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 -3 dried red chiles
- 1 star-anise
- ½ teaspoon Szechuan peppercorns
- 4 - 5 dried jujube dates (optional)
Directions
Dissolve the sea salt in 2 cups of filtered water. Set aside.
Place the Szechuan peppercorn into the glass jar first, then pack in the rest of the ingredients.
Pour the salt brine over the ingredients until it reaches the jar's lip.
Place Kraut Source or Chouami onto the jar. Allow to ferment for 10 days in a cool spot, away from direct sunlight.
When the vegetables have achieved a taste to your liking, remove fermentation top and replace with the standard lid and ring. Transfer to the refrigerator for storage.