Jie Cai (Chinese Mustard Greens) Cold Dish

This is a super simple dish, and to be honest, my selfish reason for blogging it down is because the recipe is from my mom (and grandmother) so it is a taste of home and my childhood for those days that I’m missing it, rather than any spectacularly creative or complicated meal.

My mom is back from Costa Rica for the time being, so every week I slip over to my parents house where oodles of goodies await. When a daughter goes back to visit her family, we call it hui niang jia—it is one of the rare times a daughter (who is now a wife and a mother with her own home and children to care for) can take a breather and be fed, rather than do the feeding. My mother (if you aren’t aware) is an amazing cook. When I was a child, every Sunday she would host dinners where scrumptious delights would load the large circular dining table and friends and family would gather. As I’ve gotten older, I appreciate her skills in the kitchen more and more, especially if my stomach is on the receiving end of it (my husband, who can’t understand Mandarin, says he doesn’t care if he sits in silence, so long as he can just continue eating.)

This recipe can actually be done with turnip and radish greens (I tried and it came out quite delicious), but traditionally it’s made with Brassica juncea—Chinese mustard. Salty, savory, tender, slightly sweet, and bitter (trust me, the slight bitterness really shines), this dish is best eaten cold with a bowl full of hot white rice and some other small dishes on the side. My mom said that it is a winter season recipe, when mustard greens (a cool weather crop) have come to harvest. I imagine it can be done with most mustards, so that will be on my experimental list this coming spring.

The first time I made it was a bust as it shriveled and became tough. I called my mom to ask what I did wrong, and after troubleshooting, we realized I had it on high heat, and kept it uncovered. It came out much better the second time around.

I’m glad I learned this since, as I’m finding, there’s no taste like home.

Ingredients

• 1 lb Chinese mustard greens, turnip greens, or radish greens
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar

1. Wash mustard greens well and chop into two inch pieces.
2. Add mustard greens to cold oil, with salt, soy sauce, and sugar.
3. Turn heat to medium low and cover. Allow to cook for about half an hour, or until the stems are tender. Remove from heat and chill. Can be stored in the fridge for a week.