Li Family Pickled Mustard

Li Family Pickled Mustard

　　Li Family Pickled Mustard

　　A unique dish made by the Li people to entertain honored guests is called “Nansha.”

　　The method of making Nansha: one way is to take wild greens known in the Li language as “linen” (peeled leaves, using only the tender stems) or “zhiwen” (using both tender stems and leaves), mix them with cold rice and water, seal them in a jar for a month to ferment, creating a pickled vegetable with a distinctive odor; another way is to chop up the spine bones of cattle or deer, or even cut up field crabs, small frogs, grasshoppers, and other small animals, mix them with semi-cooked hot dry rice, add a generous amount of salt or saltwater, then seal them in a jar. After fermenting for over a month or even one or two years, it is taken out for consumption.

　　Nansha has a rich and unique smell. At banquets, guests who can eat Nansha just like the Li people will be especially welcomed.