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Fermented Mustard Green Soup Dua Cai Chua

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Fermented foods are rich in probiotic bacteria which helps break down nutrients in food. It helps increase the health of our gut and digestive system.

You can find a lot of fermented foods in the markets like yoghurt, sauerkraut, miso, kimchi, sourdough, kombucha, kefir and dua cai chua.

Dua cai chua or pickled mustard green is a fermented vegetable dish from Vietnam. You can find it in Asian markets or even online.

You can make soup out of this fermented Mustard Greens (which is called canh dua cai chua or Fermented mustard green soup). It goes well with fried rice or any caramel pork dishes. You can stir fry it with beef or chicken as well. It is an easy fermented food to eat and cook with.

If you prefer making it on your own, here is how to make fermented mustard green soup (canh dua cai chua) with spare ribs from scratch.

Fermented Mustard Green

Tips:
Drying fresh mustard green overnight or not: Some say it is better to let them dry overnight. It doesn’t matter to me. I have tried them in both, and the results are the same and not much different.

However, with this option, give me time to prepare it when I don’t have time during the day. I wash it at night and let it dry overnight. I continue my process the next day when I find the time. If I don’t have time to spread it out in 2 days, I just get it done in one day without overnight drying step.

If you have a limited time and have to spread the process in 2 days, it is ok. I am a homeschool busy mom with 2 active kiddos, I like to keep my process flexible. Do whatever works for you!

Sanitizing jars: I grew up in Vietnam; my parents and grandparents didn’t have the luxury like we do today. Their canning process wasn’t strict as much. As long as everything was clean and dried well. They were fine and moved on to the next steps.

They even dried Mustard Greens in the sun for hours. Can you imagine how much dirt and bacteria in the air gets on those greens before putting them in the can? You got what I mean. Give yourself a break if you need to skip a step. Let’s move on to the next steps.

Fermented mustard green soup dua cai chua

New jars or used jars: If you are on the budget or already have cans at home, use them. Don’t have to be fancy buying exactly the same style jars. I didn’t buy new cans but reuse Costco pickle jars. I don’t want to waste those jars, so I reuse them. I know they don’t look fashionable, but it works perfectly for our family.

However, if you don’t have one at home and want to invest in a couple good jars. I have a couple of links for you to check it out. My favorite ones are wide lid Mason jars. I use them for fresh smoothies to canning to frozen food. It is worth the investment.  

You can check my kitchen kit by clicking here.

How much salt: The saltier the boiled water, the longer it takes to be ready. However, I have tried cutting down the salt amount and they didn’t turn out good. I tend to stay on the salty side in this process. The saltier it is, the longer it lasts in what I have learnt so far. You just have to experiment with it.

Fermented mustard green soup dua cai chua

Fermented Mustard Green

Ingredients

  • 12 cups of water
  • 1 tbsp of brown sugar (more or less to taste)
  • 5 tbsp of salt (you can use any kind or better with canning salt)
  • 3 bls of mustard greens (choose the ones are large, curvy, dark green)
  • 3-5 stalks of green onion (chop them in 1 to 2 inches)
  • 5 shallots (small purple ones) (cut them in 3 or 4 parts)
  • Large glass jar
  • 1 food resealable sandwich-sized plastic bag
  • 1 resealable quart-sized plastic bag
  • Fermented mustard green soup dua cai chua
  • Fermented mustard green soup dua cai chua
  • Fermented mustard green soup dua cai chua

Directions

  1. Bring water to a gentle boil. Dissolve sugar and salt. Turn off the heat and allow boiled water to cool down around 45 minutes to an hour. The water can’t be hot. It has to be warm or room temperature for the next step.
  2. While waiting for the boiled water to cool down, wash Mustard Greens well. Chop into small pieces about 1 inch length. Let it dry.
  3. Wash the jar thoroughly. Microwave jar on High for 1-2 minutes to sanitize and dry completely. This process will keep dirty bacteria away. It is a clean process. And it is highly recommended from canning pros.
  4. Add Mustard Greens, green onion, and shallot to the jar and pour warm water mixture on top to completely submerge them.
  5. It will take 3-7 days to be ready to eat. To speed up the pickling process, you can place the jar in a warm area like a windowsill. It may take 3 to 4 days to be ready.  
  6. Note: It is normal when the brine gets a little bit cloudy during the process. The Mustard Greens should be fine. However, the water/juice shouldn’t get slimy.

Fermented Mustard Green Soup Dua Cai Chua


Fermented mustard green soup dua cai chua

Tips: in Vietnamese cooking, sugar is used in most dishes or soups to balance out the taste. Depending on the kind of sugar you have at home, you can use it less or more. I don’t use a lot of sugar in my cooking, so I only add sugar to suit my taste at the moment. With this soup, there was time I used sugar. And there was time I didn’t. I recommend you add sugar, salt and seasoning a bit at a time so it suits your taste.

Fermented Mustard Green Soup Dua Cai Chua

Canh Dua Cai Chua (Pickled Mustard Green Soup with Spare Ribs)

Ingredients

  •   1 lb. of spare ribs (preboiled on stove top for 5 minutes, rinsed, drained)
  • 1 lb of pickled mustard green (drained liquid) or you can buy it online
  • 2 tomatoes (sliced it in 4 or 5 chunks) 
  • 1 white onion (peeled and sliced)
  • 2 shallot (peel and sliced) 
  • 4 cloves of garlic  2 tsp of salt 
  • 2 tsp of mushroom seasoning
  • ¼ tsp of ground black pepper 
  • 2 green onion (chop in 1 inch long)
  • Avocado oil
  • 8 cups of water (can add more later as cooking)
  • Optional: 2 cups of pickling liquid only if it is homemade (don’t use the liquid from the package you bought from the market.)
  •   Optional: sugar (any kind)
  • Fermented mustard green soup dua cai chua
  • Fermented mustard green soup dua cai chua
  • Fermented mustard green soup dua cai chua
  • Fermented mustard green soup dua cai chua
  • Fermented mustard green soup dua cai chua
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  • Fermented mustard green soup dua cai chua

Directions

  1. Add water, spare ribs, salt, onion, and garlic to the pot.  Bring it to a boil and low the heat. Cook with heat until the meat is tender and ready.  
  2. When the broth is ready, in another pot, heat up the oil on medium high. Add garlic and shallot. Saute until fragrant.
  3. Add the pickled mustard green and tomatoes in and saute for 5 minutes. Add mushroom seasoning and salt to taste.
  4. Add spare ribs broth. Cook with high heat and bring broth to boil.
  5. Add pickling liquid and continue cooking for an additional 5 to 10 minutes.
  6. Season soup to taste if needed.

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