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Vegetables from Manipur and Nagaland, India

Inziangsang (fermented and dried mustard leaf)inziangsang

Inziangsang is mustard leaf (hangam) crushed, soaked in warm water, squeezed and pressed airtight into a container, where lactic acid bacteria ferment it for 7–10 days. The leaves are then sun-dried, to be cooked in soups. A review says the dried leaves are stored in a closed container for a year or more at room temperature. It is made much like gundruk.

Fully documentedVegetables11 days – 15 days

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedHousehold tradition with no fixed amounts; the sources list only the leaf and warm water.
Mustard leaves (hangam, Brassica juncea)[swain2014]
Warm waterFor soaking the crushed leaves[swain2014]

Total time across the recorded steps: 11 days – 15 days

Start
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Close-up: water moving into a leaf

What changes: Crushed mustard leaves soak in warm water

Step 1 of 4
Crush the leaves and soak in warm water
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
Lactobacillus plantarum
Lactobacillus brevis
Pediococcus pentosaceus
Leuconostoc fallax

Output: soft, crushed 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

Inziangsang is mustard leaf (hangam) crushed, soaked in warm water, squeezed and pressed airtight into a container, where lactic acid bacteria ferment it for 7–10 days. The leaves are then sun-dried, to be cooked in soups. A review says the dried leaves are stored in a closed container for a year or more at room temperature. It is made much like gundruk. Made in 4 steps over 11 days – 15 days. The longest step, squeeze out the water and press the leaves airtight into a container, takes 7–10 days (Swain M.R 2014) and runs at 20–30 °C (Swain M.R 2014). Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus brevis, Pediococcus pentosaceus, P. acidilactici and Leuconostoc fallax do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step7–10 daysReported[swain2014]Squeeze out the water and press the leaves airtight into a container
Temperature20–30 °CReported[swain2014]Squeeze out the water and press the leaves airtight into a container

What makes this one different

Made like gundruk, but from mustard leaf only and in Manipur and Nagaland; the leaf is soaked in warm water before it is pressed.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Ziang duiThe fermented extract, used as a condiment at home meals.

Safety

Swain et al. describe the leaves as pressed into the container and made airtight to keep the conditions anaerobic. After the 7-10 day ferment they are sun-dried for 4-5 days and kept in a closed container at room temperature for a year or more. No pH or salt figure is given. Fresh vegetables are low-acid foods (CDC), and Clostridium botulinum will not grow in food more acidic than pH 4.6 (WHO). So during the airtight 7–10 day stage the ferment relies on lactic acid reaching that level, which no source we read measures. The toxin cannot be seen, smelled or tasted (CDC). WHO says boiling destroys it, for example above 85 °C inside the food for 5 minutes or longer.

History and sources

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

History
The sources we found do not record its history.
Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
  1. [swain2014] Swain M.R., Anandharaj M., Ray R.C., Parveen Rani R. 2014, Fermented fruits and vegetables of Asia, a potential source of probiotics, Biotechnology Research International 2014:250424 (section 3.4, inziangsang)paper
  2. [tamang2005] Tamang J.P., Tamang B., Schillinger U., Franz C.M., Gores M., Holzapfel W.H. 2005, Identification of predominant lactic acid bacteria isolated from traditionally fermented vegetable products of the Eastern Himalayas, International Journal of Food Microbiology 105:347–356 (abstract)paper
  3. [tamang2009] Tamang J.P., Tamang B., Schillinger U., Guigas C., Holzapfel W.H. 2009, Functional properties of lactic acid bacteria isolated from ethnic fermented vegetables of the Himalayas, International Journal of Food Microbiology 135:28–33 (abstract)paper
  4. [cdc-prev] CDC, Preventing botulism (botulism prevention page)gov
  5. [who-botulism] World Health Organization, Botulism fact sheetgov