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Vegetables from South China

Hum choy (South China rice-water leaf pickle)咸菜

Hum choy is a South Chinese pickle of a local leafy vegetable. The leaves are salted and wilted on racks in the sun, packed into earthenware pots, covered with the water left from washing rice, sealed and left to sour for four days. Unopened, it keeps for up to two months.

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

Short entryVegetables4 days

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedHousehold method with no amounts given in the source.
Local leafy vegetableWashed and drained[fao134]
SaltThe leaves are covered in it before drying[fao134]
Rice waterThe water left after washing rice grains[fao134]

Total time across the recorded steps: 4 days

Start
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What changes: Salted leaves hang on racks in the sun until they wilt

Step 1 of 4
Wash, drain, cover in salt and wilt on racks in the sun
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: salted, wilted leaves.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
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

Hum choy is a South Chinese pickle of a local leafy vegetable. The leaves are salted and wilted on racks in the sun, packed into earthenware pots, covered with the water left from washing rice, sealed and left to sour for four days. Unopened, it keeps for up to two months. Made in 4 steps over 4 days. The longest step, seal and ferment, takes 4 days (Battcock M. and Azam-Ali S. 1998).

Key numbers
Main step4 daysReported[fao134]Seal and ferment

What makes this one different

Hum choy is wilted dry in the sun with salt and then soured under rice-washing water, like Thai pak-gard-dong, which FAO describes with a sugar solution instead of rice water.

Related ferments

History and sources

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

  1. [fao134] Battcock M. and Azam-Ali S. 1998, Fermented fruits and vegetables, a global perspective, FAO Agricultural Services Bulletin 134, ch. 6.1.3 (citing Steinkraus 1996)gov