Anyone know why ya cai isn’t as sour as most pickles? Any good brands besides the ones FD recommends?
http://www.fuchsiadunlop.com/sichuanese-preserved-vegetable-芽菜/
Because they’re not cucumbers. And the seasoning is different.
Make your own.
After all, this is the Home Cooking board.
Ya cai is fermented. The kind of sourness I’m talking about is a fermentation product, not a seasoning. I pickle a lot of things (not cucumbers) and they’re always more sour than ya cai.
Did you not read what I said?
The seasoning is different. Yes, both are fermented, but 芽菜 is seasoned after fermentation. Pickles are not.
Seasoning doesn’t reduce sourness.
Yes. It. Does.
You could balance sour with sweet, as a lot of Japanese pickles do, but it would still be sour. Ya cai seems without sourness. I suspect the difference is drying it first and then packing it in salt rather than brine.