I asked my Mother to make me a big bucket of pickled mustard greens because where she reside things are much cheaper. Pickled mustard greens can be used to make so many delicious dishes. It can be enjoyed as is with grilled or fried fish or use it to make Pickled Mustard Green Soup. I’ve made Stir-Fried Pickled Mustard Greens with Roasted Pork Belly and Pickled Mustard Green Fried Rice before. Today I share with you another dish utilizing this tasty pickled mustard greens.

Originally I wanted to do a video tutorial for this Cambodian Stir-Fried Pickled Mustard Green with Beef,​ឆារជ្រុក់ស្ពីសាច់គោ (Cha Jruk Spey Sachko) but due to gloomy Autumn weather plus my crazy sleeping pattern by the time I step in the kitchen there is hardly any natural light left. Without sufficient natural light recording is extremely challenging. This is why I settle for a blog post instead.

The secret on how to make beef tender like how they serve it up at Chinese restaurants
Slice the beef thinly across the grain and soak it in baking soda mixture. For the recipe below I used ½ teaspoon baking soda and about 1½ cup water. Soak for about 15-20 minutes then drain and rinse the beef well to remove any residue.  Use paper towel to remove excess water. From here you can marinade the meat to your liking.

Cambodian Stir-Fried Pickled Mustard Green with Beef (makes 1-2 serving)
(Cha Jruk Spey Sachko) ឆារជ្រុក់ស្ពីសាច់គោ

Ingredients
½ lb. beef, thinly sliced
about 3 cups chopped pickled mustard greens
3 cloves of garlic, peel and minced
bird’s eye chili, slice lengthwise (adjust amount to your liking)
1 teaspoon sugar
1½ tablespoons fish sauce
½ tablespoon oyster sauce, optional
cilantro springs for garnish
oil for stir-frying

Method:
Get your pan nice and hot then add the oil. Swirl it around to coat the bottom of the pan.

Toss in your garlic and stir fry about 20-30 secs. It should not take long to turn golden brown. If it does, it means the oil is not hot enough.

Next add the chili if using and continue to stir fry until fragrant, about another 20-30 secs.

Add sliced beef and cook to your liking (medium, well-done). Add sugar, fish sauce and oyster sauce if using. Stir to coat.

Toss the chopped pickled mustard greens and continue to stir it for just a minute to incorporate all the flavors.

Dish out, garnish with cilantro sprigs and serve with steamed rice. ENJOY!

Video Tutorial

Original text below from archive Oct 21, 2009.
Yesterday I headed to Stockton to drop off some stuff at my parent’s house and also stopped by my sister’s salon to get my bangs trimmed. Mother always try to pack me stuff every time I visit. My fridge is still stock with kwah ko (Cambodian Sausage) and trey ngeat (Cambodian Sun-Dried Salty Fish) from my last visit so there was no need for more of those, yet.  Mother still had other goodies for me to bring back home and this time it was jruk spey ជ្រក់ស្ពៃ (Cambodian pickled mustard greens).

My favorite part of jruk spey is the center where the stems are still young and crunchy. I remembered growing up Mother used to make like buckets of jruk spey at a time and us kids would sneak up and pinched the center stem portion of the mustard green then eat them. When it’s time to cook my Mother is left with the outer leaves potion with a hollow center. She would questioned who did it. Of course we pointed fingers at each other and no body dare to admit they were the guilty one.

Jruk spey can be used to make a variety of Cambodian dish as soups, stir-fry, and as a relish/salad to accompany grilled fishes as well as other meats. Today I am sharing with you how I make Sngour Jruk Spey ស្ងោរជ្រក់ស្ពៃ (Pickled Mustard Green Soup).  Very few ingredients are called for but this soup yield LOTS of flavor! I am using bone-in chicken but you can use pork as well. Bone-in meats I think  tend to yield a more flavorful broth due to long period of simmering. The broth becomes rich and the meats get oh so tender, like fall of the bone goodness.  However, if time is tight then opt for meats only (without the bone) and chop into smaller pieces as it will cook faster.

Ingredients
3 skinless chicken thighs (about 1 lb) cut into chunks
3 cups chopped pickled mustard greens
5 cups of water
3 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon chicken broth mix (or ½ chicken bullion cube)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons fish sauce
chopped green onion or cilantro for garnishing
hot red chili peppers to serve (optional)

Method:
Wash and rinse and squeeze as much water from the pickled mustard greens prior to chopping to remove some of the salt content.

Bring water to a boil and add chicken pieces and garlic cloves. Allow to boil for 10 minutes making sure to remove scum that rise to the surface. If you are using meat only this will be less visible. Cover and simmer stock for 30 minutes or longer if have the time, otherwise 10-15 minutes is sufficient.

Add chicken broth mix followed by chopped pickled mustard greens. Continue to cook another 5 minutes. Finish the soup off by adding sugar and fish sauce.  Pickled mustard greens can vary in flavor. Some have a very high salt content even after you rinse it while others make them pretty sour. Taste and adjust to your liking.

Once you are satisfy with the flavor turn the heat off and add chopped green onion then stir to combine. To serve, ladle to a bowl and garnish with fresh whole or chopped chili. This soup can be served as is or along with steamed rice at part of a meal.

I’ve been bad lately; sleeping late and waking up late as well. This mean skipping what nutritionist calls the most important meal of the day-breakfast. When yesterday lunch time rolled around I just popped the fridge and put together what I had which resulted in this surprisingly yummy Pickled Mustard Green Fried Rice (Bai Cha Jruk Spey) បាយឆារជ្រុក់ស្ពី.

I had my share of mushy fried rice days until recently. After numerous trial and error and with some research online I was able to perfect my fried rice, IMHO. Here are my tested tips to homemade but  restaurant style/quality fried rice.

• Chill left-over rice in the refrigerator overnight.
  This will allow the liquid to dry up and the grains to hold it’s shape and not turn mushy when frying. The sauce and seasonings will liven it back up. The rice grains will absorb all the liquid making them flavorful in every bite.
• Fry ingredients separately.
  This will ensure that each item you lay on the pan get their share of “wok/pan time”. You want to be able to taste each of the flavors and not crowd them. Since all the ingredients will joined again at the end, you only have to cook it to about 80%.
• High heat is essential.
  Just be patient and allow the pan to heat up again before you start frying the next item.
• Try not to touch!
  Sometime we are tempted to start moving thing around fearing they might burn. Spread them out and use all the pan surface. Give them a chance to cook and crisp up then go at it. If you do too much digging and poking, you will end up breaking the rice grains releasing the starch which results in a mushy and sticky fried rice.

Ingredients
2.5 cups cooked rice
10 lil’ smokie, cut into cube
3 eggs, lightly beaten season with a dash of salt & pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
3-4 hot red bird’s eye chili, chopped (optional)
2 stalks green onion, chopped
1 cup chopped pickled mustard greens

Seasoning
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
½ tablespoon sesame oil

Method:

Prepare seasoning and set aside.

Heat a pan til hot then toss in lil’ smokie. There is no need to add oil as the meat will draw out it’s own oil. For a nice and crunchy meat make sure to arrange them in a single layer on the pan. Do not touch it! Let it cook for about 1 minute on each side. Remove, leaving the fat behind, and set aside.

Wait a couple of seconds for the pan to heat up again and use the remainder oil in the pan to quickly fry the lightly beaten eggs. Separate them with a spatula.  Remove when it’s 80% cooked. The eggs should still be a bit watery.

In the same pan add garlic, chili, ¾ chopped green onions and do a quick stir fry until fragrant but carefully not to burn them. Next toss in chopped pickled mustard greens and spread them out.  Make a well in the middle (or move them to the side).

Add cooked rice (try to do it in a single layer so that the grains touch the bottom of the pan). Leave it alone for a couple of minutes before you start to stir them around. This will allow the rice to crisp up.

Pour seasoning all around and continue to stir fry to incorporate the flavors. You will notice that the rice grains barely stick to the pan. They are still plumped and not mushy. This is because you allow them “wok time”  ( a chance to touch the bottom on the pan/wok).

Finally return the lil’ smokie and fried eggs and mix them together one more time.

Dish out to serve and sprinkle with the remainder chopped green onion.  Enjoy this delicious creation of mine . I hope that my tips were helpful to you and that you enjoyed making and eating this as much as I did.

As mentioned in my previous Chinese Roasted Pork Belly with Crackling post I anticipated left-overs for another (one of my experimental) dish. While enjoying the roasted pork belly out of the oven with hot steamy rice my mind was already brainstorming another dish. That evening I also made Sichuan popular Fish Soup with Pickled Mustard Greens (which I will share in the future once I get the perfect balance) so as I looked to dishes on table it crossed my mind. How about joining some of the ingredients from the two dishes? I finally locate the Sichuan peppercorns at my local Asian supermarket. I am so addicted to that spicy, numbing, tingling taste right now and so very eager to put it to the test in my Cha Jruk Spey Sach Jrook Kwai ឆារជ្រក់ស្ពៃសាច់ជ្រូកខ្វៃ​ (Stir-Fried Pickled Mustard Greens with Roasted Pork).

Since the pickled mustard greens and roasted pork belly are loaded with flavors already it was important to try to balance them out and join them by not having to add additional salt. Spicy was the flavor that I used to bring these two together. I was pleased with the outcome.  I believe my use of the Sichuan peppercorn was spot on in this stir-fried dish.

Ingredients
2-3 cups sliced pickled mustard greens
sliced Chinese crackling roasted pork belly
½ tablespoon Sichuan peppercorn, crushed
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon full roasted chili
julienne red jalapeños for garnish

Method:
In a hot pan reheat the sliced pork belly by laying them down evenly. This will not only reheat the meat but add a little crunch and make it crispy again. Flip it once then remove and set aside. Use the fat that was left behind and add minced garlic, roasted chili and Sichuan peppercorn.  Fry until fragrant. You might want to turn on the fan at this point. You will be able to tell when your nose starts to tickle and you feel like sneezing.

Add pickled mustard greens and stir to coat with the rest of the other ingredients. Cook another 2 minute before adding back the roasted pork belly. Sprinkle 2 teaspoons of sugar and then stir again to combine.

To serve, dish it out and garnish with some julienne red jalapeños. Serve with steamed rice.