Meigan cai

Meigan cai, also called mei cai, is a type of dry pickled Chinese mustard of the Hakka people from Huizhou, Guangdong province, China. Meigan cai is also used in the cuisine of Shaoxing (绍兴), Zhejiang province, China.^[1]

Meigan cai
A bundle of meigan cai
Meigan cai
Traditional Chinese	梅乾菜
Simplified Chinese	梅干菜
Literal meaning	plum dried vegetable
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin méigāncài Wade–Giles mei2-kan1 ts'ai4
Meicai
Chinese	梅菜
Literal meaning	plum vegetable
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin méicài Wade–Giles mei2 ts'ai4 Hakka Romanization mòi chhoi Yue: Cantonese Jyutping mui4 coi3
Second alternative Chinese name
Chinese	霉菜
Literal meaning	moldy vegetable
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin méicài

The pickle consists of a whole head of various varieties of Chinese mustards and cabbages (芥菜 (leaf mustard), 油菜 (rape), 白菜 (Chinese cabbage) that has undergone an elaborate process consisting of drying, steaming, and salting.^[2] The vegetables are harvested, trimmed before the Qingming Festival, 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.^[1]

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.^[3] 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, known as meicaibao (梅菜包), and to make pork belly bao buns (梅菜扣肉包).^[4]

See also

• Zha cai – Pickled mustard plant stem from Chongqing, China
• Suan cai – Traditional Chinese pickled vegetables
• Pao cai – Pickle in Chinese, and particularly Sichuan cuisine
• Gundruk – Nepali fermented vegetable dish