"Suan Tsai"or "Tzai Tsai" Chinese pickled condiment

[jecho]

The Chowhound Team split this tangent from the Los Angeles board. If you'd like to find Chinese beef rolls in the greater L.A. area, please go here:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/6379...
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I love the beef roll at 101 Noodle express but I love the condiment green cilantro and pepper mix equally. Does anyone know how to make that? It seems to be the stems of the cilantro with some of the leaves and diced green onion and green peppers in an oil base. I don't remember tasting salt with it but I do remember that the condiment had a wonderful savoriness to it. Would appreciate any suggestions.

[maxcatsilver]

After having lunch at 101 Noodle Express yesterday and being told that their cilantro-based relish is not for sale, my Wife and I took a stab at recreating the condiment at home today, and we were quite pleased with the results for our leftover beef roll(s). This is what we did:

Finely chopped about 1 cup of cilantro (stems included), and two jalapeno peppers (seeds included, we like it spicy), added about 1 tbsp of sliced packaged Chinese pickled mustard tuber, about 2 tbsp of sesame oil, a dash of salt and about 1 tsp of white vinegar. It wasn't exactly like 101's, but we had no problems scarfing this all down with our leftovers. Hopefully this provides anyone who's interested with enough info to experiment with their own version.

[J.L.]

I believe suan tsai = 酸菜, in Chinese, for ease of searching other sites...

[MikeLee]

I'd just experiment with a few batches. It's not like cilantro, fresh peppers and scallions are expensive.

Funny thing, I got Beyond the Great Wall and there's a recipe for Tribal Herb Salsa and I thought of that when I first saw it at 101. But that recipe is different, it has rice vinegar, no oil and no pepper.

[Mr Taster]

That pickle-y stuff is a standard condiment for Chinese beef noodle soup (I believe it's called "suan tsai" or something like that-- pickled greens, although maybe someone more knowledgable can verify this). It's meant to be mixed into the beef noodle soup, not the beef roll (but to each his own!)

Mr Taster

[ipsedixit]

Whether you call it "suan tsai"or "tzai tsai" ... I eat it straight out of the jar and have been known to poach the jars from adjacent tables ...

[taiwanesesmalleats]

I tend to like it on anything meaty or greasy. Helps cut the heaviness of the dish such as the beef rolls and beef noodle soup. It's also great in shao bing with braised beef.

[bulavinaka]

Second that on using suan tsai/tzai tsai as well as eating it straight. Also a light sprinkle on dumplings...

[ipsedixit]

Also good on congee.

I could go on and on and on ...

[Mr Taster]

Please do...

Mr Taster

[ipsedixit]

Well, let's see, aside from the aforementioned ...

-fried rice
-steamed rice
-dan dan mien
-cold sesame noodles
-steamed buns ("man-tou")
-mixed with Taiwanese fried pork floss ("rou-tsong") as a sandwich filling
-mixed with soy sauce, sesame oil, etc. as a dressing for tofu
-as a "salsa" for tortilla chips
-mixed into Taiwanese fatty meatloaf
-topped on scrambled eggs
-as a filling for Beijing style crepes
-mixed into egg salad and potato salad
-mixed into deviled eggs

[Mr Taster]

To each his own, indeed! :)

I'll be very curious to see what my (Taiwanese) wife thinks of tzai tsai and tortilla chips...

Mr Taster

[J.L.]

Thank goodness I have Grandma's recipes for this stuff. Yeah, it's pretty much a fifth food group in Taiwan.

[Burger Boy]

Can you post the recipe somewhere? Would love to cover my body in the stuff!

[J.L.]

Yikes... That's bit "too" Houndish?!

[Burger Boy]

Seriously, any chance you would share your grandmother's recipe with us? I am sure grandma would want everyone to enjoy her recipes of love!

[ipsedixit]

It's actually pretty simple to make.

Get yourself a bunch of Chinese mustard greens

Then assemble the following for the pickling liquid:
-water
-salt
-Chinese rock sugar
-ginger root
-rice wine vinegar

Combine the above ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil, reduce heat and allow it to simmer for about 5 minutes. Turn off heat and let cool. Then discard the ginger root.

Place the mustard greens (whole in bunches) in a canning jar, then fill with the pickling liquid, seal and turn and flip the jar so that the liquid is properly distributed.

Leave it out in room temperature for 7-10 days. The greens should turn color from a light bright green to a dark yellow-ish brown.

Remove and store in the fridge in a tupperware container. Each time you want some, take out a bunch and dice and chop up the stalks and leaves to a size and shape of your liking.

(Note: You can reuse the pickling liqud by just adding fresh mustard greens)

[J.L.]

Aha! So you're the thief who broke into Grandma's house years ago! The jig is up, ipse!

[Burger Boy]

This one at 101 has jalapenos or seranos and cilantro, no?

[ipsedixit]

The serano chilis and cilantro are garnishes that you add afterwards. Don't pickle those.

[Burger Boy]

Oh, OK,thanks, I guess i need to get some greens and stuff. Yeah!

[ipsedixit]

The beauty of pickled mustard greens is that it is absolutely delicious on its own, but also great when mixed in with other accoutrements.

Lots of joints in SGV will have jars of mustard greens mixed with black bean chili sauce, sesame oil, green chilis, etc.

But man, give me a good plate of pork chop rice and some pickled mustard greens to mix in, and a good tea egg on the side and I could die a happy 'hound ...

[Burger Boy]

Where do you go for pork chop rice? Do they have the greens there also?

[ipsedixit]

Old Country Cafe ... then finish off your meal with a nice big bowl of shaved ice. Game over.

Old Country Cafe
2 East Valley Blvd
Alhambra, CA 91801
[phone]

[J.L.]

Ooh I haven't had that in over 6 months - THX for the reminder!

[Mr Taster]

Hey ipse, thanks for the OCC recommendation! We had the pork chop last night (as did virtually everyone else in the joint) and it was fantastic... about $4.50. But why didn't it come with rice? No matter. Loved the suan tsai and cabbage served under the pork chop. Also got a spinach and ground meat app for $2.25 which also was quite good. The ice was fine, though it's not longer $2 but $3 (and we opted for the mango ice with mochi and condensed milk, for a total of $4.75. Lastly, we ordered the squid noodles but it paled in comparison to the version at won won kitchen.

Thanks for the tip!
Mr Taster

[ipsedixit]

Wait a minute. It came with NO rice?? How can that be?

If I recall correctly (it's been a while since I've actually used a menu to order at the place), the pork chop comes with your choice of either rice, noodles, or "rice noodles". Maybe there was a mixup somewhere?? Could they have run out of rice?? Egad.

I always indulge in a side order of pig's blood. :-)

Glad you enjoyed your visit, even w/o the rice ...

[Mr Taster]

We were thinking of asking about it, but we weren't hungry enough to worry too much about, so we let it go. All the pork chop plates at other tables were served as ours were (pork chop on flat plate over suan tsai and cabbage with 1/2 tea egg, no rice) though we noticed some people had extra side bowls of cabbage and rice.

Mr Taster

[Stellar D]

As kids, my mother would slice pickled mustard super thin, as thin as you can get them. Then stir fry with with oil and garlic, then add egg and scramble everything together. Then we would eat it over rice with home made hot sauce.... I still get cravings from time to time.

[SeaCook]

I was particularly fond of the version that was at Lucky Dragon. I became so bummed when I heard it closed. :-( I could munch on that stuff watchng TV. Certainly healtier than potato chips!

[ipsedixit]

And they had one of the best, homiest tomato beef rice around ...