Guanjiawei Pickled Mustard Greens

Guanjiawei Pickled Mustard Greens

　　The pickled mustard greens produced in Guanjiawei, Huangpu Town, are also a distinctive local food renowned across Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau. In the early years of the Republic of China, a local named Zhou Ankang developed a fragrant, refreshing, and savory food using sun-drying and salting methods, naming it “Guanjiawei Pickled Mustard Greens.” Since then, locals have made it a habit to process and sell these greens during autumn and winter. To this day, in Guanjiawei, a village with only twenty or thirty households, over 2,000 tons of Guanjiawei Pickled Mustard Greens are produced and sold each autumn and winter.

　　These pickled mustard greens have a unique flavor—sweet, refreshing, and delicious. They can be eaten as a snack or served as a side dish with rice or alcohol. Traditional ways of eating them include dishes like “Steamed Pork with Pickled Mustard Greens” and “Minced Pork Patties with Pickled Mustard Greens.” They can also be sliced and stir-fried with pork or steamed with fresh fish. Chopped mustard green leaves mixed into plain congee offer another distinctive flavor.

　　Huangpu has long been an agricultural hub, producing a wide variety of fruits and vegetables year-round. Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, locals have used salting methods to produce and sell preserved sour, spicy, and salty vegetable dishes. Figures such as Xian Suan Ming and La Cai Xin from Huangpu’s Gulong Workshop, as well as Ci Tang Hua brothers, were well remembered in the mid-20th century for peddling their preserved vegetables from street stalls. Today, the He brothers from Linggu Workshop in Huangpu, Wu Yingwen from Zhaofeng Village, and Liang Junhe from Wulan Village continue to run large-scale operations producing these preserved vegetables. Common ingredients include papaya, mango, cucumber, green plum, peach, plum, radish, yam bean, ginger, chili pepper, Chinese onion, cabbage heart, and Chinese mustard greens.

　　Preserved sour vegetables are often ready-to-eat. When serving, a small amount of chili sauce, mustard, or fried sesame seeds can be added to enhance the flavor. Popular dishes include Roast Goose Strips Stir-Fried with Pickled Mustard Greens and Braised Bighead Carp with Pickled Vegetables. Of course, when a newborn reaches one month old, it's customary to serve Red Eggs with Spicy and Sour Ginger.