Midu Pickled Sour Vegetables

Midu Pickled Sour Vegetables

　　Midu Pickled Sour Vegetables are a specialty of Midu County in Dali Prefecture, Yunnan Province. “Midu sour pickles—beloved by the people of Yunnan.” These pickled vegetables are bright in color, fragrant and tangy, making them especially popular among consumers and a common household staple. They can be served cold in a salad, stir-fried, eaten raw, or added to soups—eat them however you like. A little tangy and very appetizing.

　　There are mainly two types of traditional pickled sour vegetables in the Midu area: one is called water-pickled vegetables, and the other is called pressed vegetables. Both products use large leafy mustard greens grown under Midu’s unique natural conditions as the main ingredient, with carrots and radishes as supplementary ingredients. Salt, chili powder, raw brown sugar, and spices are added, and the mixture is sealed and fermented naturally in earthen jars. Depending on the moisture content of the mustard greens used and the ratio of supplementary ingredients, these two types are formed. Pressed vegetables usually do not include supplementary ingredients, and their fermentation time and natural shelf life are longer than those of water-pickled vegetables—typically about a year, and sometimes up to two years. Water-pickled vegetables are bright in color and have a tangy, spicy flavor, while pressed vegetables offer a more lingering and aromatic sour taste.

　　In recent years, the pickling process of sour vegetables has combined traditional methods with modern production equipment, resulting in a production technique known as “three selections, three washes, one pickle.” The three selections involve carefully choosing high-quality mustard greens through three rounds of selection. The three washes consist of two machine washes and one manual wash. The one pickle involves adding salt, chili powder, raw brown sugar, and secret spices before sealing the vegetables in jars, allowing the flavors to develop naturally.