Fuling sits on the Yangtze about a hundred kilometres upstream of Chongqing, at the point where the Wujiang river comes in from the south, and the district is the centre of one of the most everyday food industries in China. The crop is a variety of mustard grown for its swollen stem - the tuber is the size of a large fist, pale green and knobbly - and after processing it becomes zhacai, the salty, crisp, chilli-hot pickle that turns up on rice, in noodles and with congee from Harbin to Guangzhou.
How it is made
The mustard is sown in autumn and the tubers are pulled in late winter and early spring, when they are firm and still full of water. The traditional method then goes in stages. The tubers are threaded or racked and hung in the wind until they have lost a large part of their moisture - drying in moving air rather than in an oven is what gives the finished pickle its texture. They are then salted, pressed to drive out more water, and packed into sealed jars with chilli, Sichuan pepper, spices and sometimes sugar, where they ferment for months before being cut, seasoned and packed for sale. The result is crisp rather than soft, sharply saline, and warm rather than simply hot, with a savoury depth that comes from the fermentation.
The industry
What started as a household preserve is now a substantial business, with production parks, research stations and an export trade, and the traditional technique is recognised on China's intangible cultural heritage register. The pickle is eaten as a condiment rather than a dish: a spoonful of it alongside plain rice, stirred into noodles, or fried with minced pork as the topping for a bowl of noodles. It is one of the very few Chinese pickles that a western palate takes to immediately, and it travels well.
Practical notes
Fuling is quick to reach from Chongqing by high-speed rail, about forty minutes, which makes it an easy half-day out of the city, and the industrial sites are open to visitors on arrangement rather than on a walk-in basis. Fuling is also the site of the Baiheliang underwater museum and the gateway to the Wujiang river gorges, so a day here covers more than pickles. If you buy some to take home, choose the vacuum-packed jars, which are sealed and stable for a long journey.
