Meigan cai, also called mei cai, is a type of dry
pickled Chinese mustard of the
Hakka people
The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka-speaking Chinese, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas, are a southern Han Chinese subgroup whose principal settlements and ancestral homes are dispersed widely across the provinces of southern China ...
from
Huizhou
Huizhou ( zh, c= ) is a city in east-central Guangdong Province, China, forty-three miles north of Hong Kong. Huizhou borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the west, Shenzhen and Dongguan to the southwest, Shaoguan to the north, Hey ...
,
Guangdong
) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...
province, China. Meigan cai is also used in the cuisine of
Shaoxing
Shaoxing is a prefecture-level city on the southern shore of Hangzhou Bay in northeastern Zhejiang province, China. Located on the south bank of the Qiantang River estuary, it borders Ningbo to the east, Taizhou, Zhejiang, Taizhou to the south ...
(),
Zhejiang
)
, translit_lang1_type2 =
, translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese)
, image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg
, image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains
, image_map = Zhejiang i ...
province,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
.
The pickle consists of a whole head of various varieties of 芥菜 (
Chinese mustard), 油菜 (
rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...
), and 白菜 (
Chinese cabbage) that has undergone an elaborate process consisting of drying, steaming, and salting. The vegetables are harvested, trimmed before the
Qingming Festival
The Qingming Festival or Ching Ming Festival, also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day in English (sometimes also called Chinese Memorial Day, Ancestors' Day, the Clear Brightness Festival, or the Pure Brightness Festival), is a traditional Chines ...
, and sun-dried until limp. It is then salted or brined, kneaded until the juices are exuded, and left to ferment in large clay urns for 15 to 20 days. The vegetable is then repeatedly steamed and dried until reddish brown in colour and highly fragrant.
Uses
Culinary
This pickled vegetable is used to flavor stews, in particular, ''meigan cai cooked with pork'' (梅菜扣肉), a classic dish from
Hakka cuisine. In this dish, slices of pork belly are parboiled and then deep-fried before being steamed with meigan cai.
Pastry
Meigan cai can also be used as a filling for vegetarian
baozi
Baozi (), or simply bao, is a type of yeast-leavened filled bun in various Chinese cuisines. There are many variations in fillings (meat or vegetarian) and preparations, though the buns are most often steaming, steamed. They are a variation of ...
, known as ''meicaibao'' (梅菜包), and to make ''pork belly bao buns'' (梅菜扣肉包).
See also
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References
External links
a common type of 芥菜 that is used for meicaimaking meicai by drying on a line
Chinese pickles
Hakka cuisine
Plant-based fermented foods
Vegetable dishes
Vegetarian dishes of China
{{China-cuisine-stub