300 Homemade Flavor Pickles

Author: Zhou Fanlin, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-01-01
Features: Pickles, salted vegetables, fermented vegetables, (fermented foods with rice wine), and braised dishes are indispensable in daily life. They are not only easy to make, with abundant ingredients, cost-effective, time-saving, and convenient to preserve, but also crisp, fresh, fragrant, varied in flavor, refreshing, nutritious, and appetizing. Therefore, they are deeply loved by people. Pickles are made from various fresh vegetables soaked in a brine containing multiple seasonings and spices, fermented through a process. The fermentation of vegetables in brine primarily occurs under the action of lactic acid bacteria. Lactic acid bacteria ferment the sugars in the raw materials to produce lactic acid, which inhibits the activity of harmful microorganisms, thereby preserving the pickles and giving them a sour taste, crispness, coolness, a clear texture, rich aroma, and a sweet and sour flavor with a slight spicy kick, making them easy to store. Salted vegetables are prepared by pickling fresh vegetables with refined salt or brine. Through processing, salt penetrates the vegetables, creating a high osmotic pressure environment that draws out some moisture, inhibiting microbial growth to achieve preservation and storage. Salted vegetables are a universally popular side dish, enjoyed by people of all ages and regions. They are characterized by easy preparation, low cost, crispness, delicious taste, and a long shelf life. Fermented vegetables are made by pickling fresh vegetables with salt to create salted vegetable bases. These bases are then pressed or soaked in water to remove excess salt, reducing their salt content. The resulting bases are then marinated with various sauces (such as yellow bean sauce, sweet bean sauce, etc.) or soy sauce, allowing the sugar, amino acids, and aromatic compounds in the sauces to permeate the bases, creating flavorful, nutritious, appetite-stimulating, and easily preserved fermented vegetables.
Fermented are foods prepared by marinating or braising with alcohol, (fermented rice wine), refined salt, and seasonings. With the continuous improvement of people's lives and gradual changes in family structures, dietary patterns have also evolved. Due to their delicious taste, rich aroma, appetite-stimulating properties, and nutritional hygiene, these and braised foods have quietly replaced other prepared foods in recent years, becoming delicacies in hotels, restaurants, and home dining tables.
The Chinese-style Fermented Vegetable Series includes four books: "300 Homemade Flavorful Pickles," "300 Homemade Flavorful Salted Vegetables," "300 Homemade Flavorful Fermented Vegetables," and "300 Homemade Flavorful Fermented and Braised Dishes." The content is comprehensive, the recipes are simple, and the series is highly practical. The readership of this series is very broad, suitable not only for families in urban and rural areas and staff in small and large restaurants but also for cooking enthusiasts and students of various culinary programs. Additionally, vegetable farmers can use the methods in this series to produce flavorful fermented vegetables, which are sure to sell well in seasonal markets with limited produce availability.
The ingredients and various seasonings introduced in this series are not fixed and can be adjusted according to personal preferences. The quantity of ingredients should be determined based on actual needs and available container capacity to avoid waste.
This series is edited by Zhou Fanlin, with contributions from Zhou Hao, Tong Qin, Zhou Debinyin, Tang Ximei, Tang Lihua, and Tang Liqin, among others. During the compilation of this series, reference was made to numerous literature sources, which, due to space constraints, could not be listed individually. The authors express their sincere gratitude for this!