SAWCLicious: Pickled (Salted) Vegetable Stew

Kiam Chai is one of my favorite chinese vegetable. Kiam Chai is the Fookien word for Chinese Pickled or Salted Vegetable. In Manila, you can find it in Chinatown soaked in basin and very smelly. You would know that a store sells one through your nose. I'm fortunate that the Chinese stores in Brussels sells it as well. Of course, they pack it in nicely sealed covers like the one on the right. In Wikipedia, it is called suan cai or Chinese Sauerkraut.

My family was not a fan of this and I think I'm the only one who loves to eat this. Most of the time, this is used as a side for noodles or congee (rice porridge). I like this as a stew and my mom cooks this really good. I adopted her recipe and sharing it in my blog. The key to making this dish delicious is to have a balanced taste of the sweetness, sourness, and saltiness.

Pickled Vegetable Stew

Ingredients

• A pack of the picked green mustard vegetable, sliced
• 7 pcs. shrimp chopped
• 1/4 cup of ground pork
• 1 small tomato sliced
• 3 cloves of garlic minced
• 1 tsp. ginger minced or 1 slice of ginger (without skin)
• 3 tbsp. corn oil
• 1/4 cup of water
• 3 tbsp. vinegar
• 3 tbsp. sugar
• Pepper

Procedure

1. In a wok, heat oil and saute garlic and ginger. Then add the minced pork and shrimp. 
2. Once the pork is cooked, mix in the pickled vegetable and tomato. Saute for 1-2 minutes, mixing the ingredients together in the wok. Then season with vinegar, sugar, pepper, and water.
3. Taste to see that you have the right balance of sweetness, sourness, and saltiness. If too salty or sour, add more sugar. If too sweet, add a bit more vinegar. Simmer in low heat for 10-15 minutes.
4. Serve best with steamed rice.