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Vegetables from Xichuan county, Nanyang, Henan, China

Xichuan suancai (Henan blanched-greens sour vegetable)淅川酸菜

Xichuan suancai is wild and garden greens boiled until 30 to 50 % cooked, then lifted into a big vat and covered to sour. The finished greens are bright yellow in a thick sour liquid, eaten with noodles, fried, or used in dumplings. No salt is named in the method.

A short entry: the sources we found record only what is said here about Xichuan suancai itself. Its own sources do not record how it is made, so the steps and scenes below are those of Jiangshui (Gansu and Shaanxi flour-water sour), the closest documented vegetables ferment, shown as a guide to the method, not as a record of Xichuan suancai.

Short entryVegetables

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedWhat goes in. No source gives amounts for this ferment.
wild greens (剌菜)
small rapeseed greens
mountain greens
radish tops or sesame leaves

Total time across the steps of Jiangshui (Gansu and Shaanxi flour-water sour): 3 days – 5 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play

What changes: Washed greens are scalded in boiling water

Step 1 of 4 · steps of Jiangshui (Gansu and Shaanxi flour-water sour)
Blanch the greens
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
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

Xichuan suancai is wild and garden greens boiled until 30 to 50 % cooked, then lifted into a big vat and covered to sour. The finished greens are bright yellow in a thick sour liquid, eaten with noodles, fried, or used in dumplings. No salt is named in the method.

What makes this one different

Xichuan suancai sours boiled greens in a covered vat, and its method names no salt. Northeast suan cai is cabbage soured in a salt solution.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Related cooked-greens soursNorthwest China jiangshui also sours scalded greens, in noodle-cooking water started from an old batch.

History and sources

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

Chinese Wikipedia says water and geology experts found that the Danjiang water at Xichuan holds many useful minerals, and that sour greens made the same way elsewhere lose the Xichuan character because the water differs.

  1. [zhwiki] Chinese Wikipedia, 淅川酸菜, read 2026-10-23wiki