Recipe: Burong Mustasa

Mustasa or Mustard leaves are also called Chinese Mustard locally. They have a distinct sharp and peppery taste with a hint of bitterness that other people might dislike. It's an acquired taste I may say, but did you know that it has the following: 

• High Levels of Antioxidants.

• Detoxifies Your Liver and Blood.

• Helps Lower Cholesterol.

• Packed with Phytonutrients.

• High in Fiber.

• High in Bone-Building Vitamin K.

• Good Source of Immune-Boosting Vitamin C.

• Provides Skin & Eye Health Protection. 

It's one of my favorites but I find them very seasonal and hard to find locally. Like any other vegetables, mustasa can wilt and turn yellow within a week. Preserving them is one of the ways I can stock and enjoy them throughout the season. This is one of the recipes I actually read from my Home Economics book back in high school but we never got to perform them. The word "burong" is a method of preserving/fermenting food with salt, sugar or any other natural means. Very much like picked mangoes, kimchi, salted duck eggs or bagoong. I made further research online and found that traditionally, they used rice washing with the salt brine and store them in sealed banana leaf-lined earthen pot to preserve them. Sounds intriguing but I don't have the pot so I settled for the good old glass jar sans the banana leaf. 

Ingredients: 

• 400 grams of fresh Mustasa leaves
• Rock salt for sprinkling
• 4 cups rice washing (2nd wash)
• 1/2 cup rock salt
• Glass jar to hold the Mustasa leaves (sterilize the jar by steaming it for 3-5 minutes. Yes, just like sterilizing baby bottles.)

Procedure:

1. Separate and wash leaves clean. 

2. Lay them individually on a dishcloth and pat them dry or alternatively, leave them overnight. 

3.Meanwhile, boil the rice washing with the 3/4 cup salt to dissolve it. Let it cool. Store in the fridge. 

4. When the leaves are dried, sprinkle rock salt over each leaf individually and lay them in layers in a colander over the sink to wilt them. This will remove the bitterness. Leave for an hour. 

It will look like this in an hour or so.

5. You may squeeze and arrange them in the jar or you may wash and dry each leaf individually to remove the excess salt, which I did. I tied each leaf in a knot so it's easy to lift them out of the jar without pulling a bunch of them when I need to cook it. 

I tied each leaf in a knot so it's easy to lift them out of the jar.

6. Pour the rice washing brine over the leaves and seal the jar tight. Make sure all the leaves are soaked. Discard the remaining rice water. 

Pack the leaves carefully in a sterilized glass jar.

Pour the rice water solution until it fills the top.

7. Store the jar in a cool dry place and let the brine age and turn sour in 3 to 5 days. Don't worry, the jar is sterilized and if you boiled the rice water and kept it uncontaminated, it won't spoil. 

8.Store in the fridge after 5 days. 

Others eat them straight from the jar like pickles or achara. But I prefer to slice them and sauté with scrambled eggs. They also go well with thinly sliced or ground beef. You may wash or soak them prior cooking to remove the extra saltiness.

Happy Eats!