Mei Gan Cai (Fermented Dried Mustard Greens)

Mei Gan Cai (Fermented Dried Mustard Greens)

Sometimes I fall down the rabbit hole of making things traditionally in order to experience and understand the work and history that goes into food (and subsequently culture.) Mei gan cai kou rou (梅乾菜燜肉) is a dish my mom and grandma used to make–soft fatty 

Braised Garlic Mustard Side Dish

Braised Garlic Mustard Side Dish

Everyone hates garlic mustard, generally. I know I wasn’t a big fan even after turning it into pesto because there really is only so much you can eat of it before you can’t. It’s considered a noxious and invasive weed, crowding out everything in it’s 

Minced Indian Aster (Ma Lan Tou) Cold Dish

Minced Indian Aster (Ma Lan Tou) Cold Dish

It’s kind of hard to explain the flavor of indian aster, Kalimeris indica, also known as Ma Lan Tou (馬蘭頭), herby and little cooling on the tongue, a hint of bitterness that you’re almost not quite certain is there, but refreshing and somewhat addictive. Most 

Jie Cai (Chinese Mustard Greens) Cold Dish

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 

Cheeping Chickweed

Cheeping Chickweed

First, let me just say yes, chickweed (Stellaria media) tastes good—like if butter lettuce and alfalfa sprouts had a baby… but it’s a pain to harvest and harvest enough of it to justify making a salad. However, if you have nothing to do and are 

Duck, Duck, Goosefoot

Duck, Duck, Goosefoot

Goosefoot, lambsquarter, and fat-hen all refer to the edible weeds of the genus Chenopodium. This is one weed I don’t pull, as it is an edible and mild flavored dark green, used anywhere you would use spinach (and, like spinach, is high in oxalic acid 

The Incredible Edible Chrysanthemum

The Incredible Edible Chrysanthemum

If there is one thing that I’m always looking for, it’s an edible perennial green that also tastes good. Dandelions are great, but they’re bitter (which not everyone in my family likes) and not suited to cooking because they shrivel up into tough strings, better