Shennongjia Pickles

Shennongjia Pickles

　　Pickles: Wash fresh Chinese cabbage, cabbage, etc., place them in a jar, add pickling brine, and seal for soaking. Generally, after three or four days, the vegetables become sour. They can be eaten raw or stir-fried with beef tripe, sheep tripe, or various meats. Once eaten, they stimulate saliva production and have a delicious flavor, making them a popular local drinking accompaniment.

　　Method for making pickling brine: Cool boiled water, then add Sichuan peppercorns, salt, vinegar, garlic, ginger, hawthorn berries, brown sugar, pepper, and other seasonings. Pour the mixture into a jar and seal it. After about a week, the water turns sour. In Shennongjia, pickling brine is usually passed down through generations—that is, from parents to children, and then to grandchildren. The older the brine, the richer the flavor. In Shennongjia, it’s common to find farmhouse pickling brines that are over 100 years old. Some families’ children, when separating from their parents, don’t want any property at all—just a bowl of the family’s pickling brine.