Flatbread Bean Leaf Vegetable

Flatbread Bean Leaf Vegetable

　　　　The people of Pingding have long upheld a unique local custom of eating bean leaf vegetable all year round.

　　Bean leaf vegetable is a special kind of rustic dish made from processed and fermented leaves of either mung beans or soybeans.

　　Naturally, this bean leaf vegetable uses the leaves as its main ingredient. The best time to pick the bean leaves is around the time of “White Dew.” At that time, locals would go in groups to the fields to pick the leaves, a practice called “leaf plucking.” Moreover, according to local custom, once White Dew arrives, everyone heads out together to pluck bean leaves—people can go to any field, regardless of village boundaries. There’s also a tradition that prohibits picking bean leaves before White Dew. The picked leaves then go through a unique production process.

　　First, the bean leaves are tightly rolled into balls and packed to fill the bottom of a pot. Then water is added, the pot is covered, and the leaves are steamed. After steaming, they are taken out and finely chopped with a knife, then gradually placed into a steamer basket. A wooden pickled vegetable press is used to compact the layers, which are stacked one after another. Once enough layers are in place, sorghum stalks cut to the size of the jar’s opening are placed over the top, and a “cobblestone” is used to press everything down. The jar is then kept in a cool place, with fresh water added daily so that the fermented leaves release their natural juice, known as “red water,” which seeps out. Around the time of “Start of Winter,” when the red juice has completely seeped out, the leaves are taken out, spoiled ones are removed, and the good ones are washed several times with clean water. The washed leaves are then scooped out with a strainer into a basket, pressed tightly with a wooden board and heavy stones to squeeze out the moisture, and placed in a vat in layers, weighted down with cobbles. Cooled clear rice or flour soup is poured into the vat to submerge the leaves, with water and leaves regularly replenished. The vat is stored in an environment kept between 0 to 10 degrees Celsius. Sometimes, the preserved vegetable is kept for as long as six months to two years.

　　According to the locals of Pingding County, eating bean leaf vegetable can “clear internal heat, aid digestion, and strengthen the spleen and stomach,” which is beneficial to health.

　　Bean leaf vegetable can be eaten as a “topping,” stir-fried, or prepared in various ways. Especially popular is the local style of serving it with millet and sour rice, which has distinct regional characteristics.