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Vegetables from Philippines

Burong mustasa (Filipino rice-water fermented mustard greens)burong mustasa

Flat-leaf mustard greens are wilted in the sun, rubbed with coarse salt and packed in a jar under the starchy water from cooking rice. Lactic acid bacteria, with acetic acid bacteria in the middle stage, sour the greens in about four to six days at room temperature.

A short entry: the sources we found record only what is said here about Burong mustasa itself.

DocumentedVegetables4 days – 6 days

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceOne home recipe (Panlasang Pinoy), enough for one jar. Household amounts vary.
Fresh flat mustard greens8 ounces[pp2018]
Coarse sea salt2 tablespoons[pp2018]
Rice3 tablespoonsCooked in the water until soft; only the strained rice water is used[pp2018]
Water1 ½ cups[pp2018]

Total time across the recorded steps: 4 days – 6 days

Start
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What changes: The mustard greens wilt in the sun

Step 1 of 4
Wilt the greens in the sun
Time
1 h
Reported
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
Acetic acid bacteria
Weissella
Lactobacillus
Flavour
Not documented
Texture
leaves go limp
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Flat-leaf mustard greens are wilted in the sun, rubbed with coarse salt and packed in a jar under the starchy water from cooking rice. Lactic acid bacteria, with acetic acid bacteria in the middle stage, sour the greens in about four to six days at room temperature. Made in 4 steps over 4 days – 6 days. The longest step, pack in a jar and pour on the strained rice water, takes 4–6 days (Merano V. 2018). Lactic acid bacteria, including Weissella and Lactobacillus does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step4–6 daysReported[pp2018]Pack in a jar and pour on the strained rice water
Temperature10–13 °CReported[pp2018]Keep cool to develop the flavour

What makes this one different

Unlike salt-only mustard pickles, burong mustasa is covered with the starchy water left from cooking rice rather than with plain brine.

Related ferments

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

  1. [larcia2011] Larcia L.L. II, Estacio R., Dalmacio L.M. 2011, Bacterial diversity in Philippine fermented mustard (burong mustasa) as revealed by 16S rRNA gene analysis, Beneficial Microbes 2(4):263–271 (abstract via AGRIS)paper
  2. [s2] Tan Gana N.H., Lee K.C., Lee J.S., Monsalud R.G. 2018, Polyphasic identification of lactic acid bacteria from fermented mustard leaves (burong mustasa), UP REPS Inc. annual conference proceedings, pp. 28–29 (AGRIS record; no abstract)paper
  3. [pp2018] Merano V. 2018, Burong mustasa (pickled flat mustard greens), Panlasang Pinoy (home recipe)web