Sour vegetables (suan chai)

One weekend i went back to hougang for dinner, my mum has a plate of preserved vege on the dinner table. she said its preserved by my da jiu mu (1st uncle's wife).

Then on, every other weekend, my mum will have preserved vege cos my grandma also starts making her own using chye sim and sometimes cabbage.

What i am trying to say is, this sour vege is addictive.

One small bowl of sour vege can go with a big bowl of rice!

So i decide to try on my own

What you need

- 2 tablespoon of salt

- 1 tablespoon of sugar

- 3/4 cup of water from washing rice

- 2 packets of chye sim from NTUC

How to do it

Mix salt and sugar (2:1), with water that is used to wash rice.

Wash chye sim and leave to dry in the a airy place or under the sun for 1 day

This will wither with vege a bit.

Put the vege, soak with premix water, in a container.

Give the vege a good rub (just like u are handwashing clothes) and use a plate to press it downwards.

Leave container covered and leave it to preserve.

On a daily basis, give it a good rub.

On 2nd day, the vege will start to give out more water (yellowish) and soften.

On day 3, u will see white mould on the surface of the water, use the disposable table napkin to remove the mould from the water before rubbing the vege again. repeat this for day 4.

Vege should be ready to eat by day 4.

If you are not cooking it immediately, pour away the water, wring the vege dry and put it in a clean plastic bag and refigerate it.