Old amaranth stalks fermented for three to five days in plain water — no salt, no brine — until the rigid cylinders soften to jade-green, slippery tubes with a pungent sour-ammoniac fragrance that Shaoxing palates call 霉鲜, or mould-fresh.
The dish belongs to the Ningshao Plain's tradition of resourceful fermentation, extracting flavor from scraps otherwise discarded. Amaranth leaves are eaten fresh, but the old, fibrous stalks are too tough to enjoy unprocessed. The earliest written record appears in Qing-dynasty Shaoxing scholar Fan Yin's 越谚 (Yue Proverbs), which notes: 其梗如蔗段，腌之气臭味佳，最下饭 — the stalks, like joints of sugarcane, become pungently delicious when fermented and are perfect accompaniment to rice. The fermentation brine that pools in the jar is itself a prized condiment: in Shaoxing's traditional food ecology, the dark, pungent liquid is the starter culture used to inoculate Shaoxing-style stinky tofu and other Three Stenches ferments, linking this humble jar of stalks to one of China's most famous street foods through a centuries-old microbial lineage.
The outer skin is slippery-soft; pressing with the tongue, the hollow stalk gives way and releases a rush of sour, fermented liquid with a sharp ammonia edge — profoundly off-putting to the uninitiated, but to a Shaoxing palate it reads as pure savory depth, best dissolved into hot white rice.
Unlike most Chinese ferments, 霉苋菜梗 uses no salt. The submerged stalks are first colonized by wild Lactobacillus strains and enterobacteria that produce lactic and acetic acids, rapidly dropping the pH to 3.5–4.0. This acidic environment then selects for acid-tolerant filamentous fungi whose pectinase and cellulase enzymes progressively dissolve the pectin cross-links in the amaranth's fibrous cell walls, transforming the rigid texture into characteristic slippery softness and releasing the stalk's interior liquid. Protease activity simultaneously generates free amino acids and trace ammonia; combined with short-chain fatty acids from lipid catabolism, these volatile compounds produce the pungent 霉鲜 aroma that defines the dish.
Variations
Modern Shaoxing restaurants hollow out the fermented stalks and fill them with shrimp paste before steaming, bridging the traditional pungency with a milder filling for outside audiences. The brine is preserved as a starter culture for stinky tofu, stinky winter melon, and other Three Stenches ferments.
On the Palate
Where Fermented Amaranth Stalks sits in the Chinese flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4How it's made
6 steps · 30 min
- 110 min
Select mature, thick amaranth stalks (stems only, leaves removed); trim the ends and cut into 4–5 cm lengths.
- 21440 min
Submerge the stalks in a large basin of cold, clean water; leave to soak at room temperature for 24 hours until a thin white foam rises to the surface.
Watch outSoak until a thin white foam rises to the surface — that scum is the sign wild fermentation has taken hold and the acid is building.
- 35 min
Drain and rinse the stalks in fresh water to remove the foam; pack tightly into a clean ceramic jar or airtight container.
- 44320 min
Cover completely with fresh cold water; seal tightly and leave at room temperature (18–25°C) for 3–5 days until the stalks are jade-green, soft throughout, and pungently aromatic.
Watch outFerment three to five days until the stalks go jade-green, soft through, and pungently aromatic; that softness and smell is doneness, not the clock.
- 55 min
Remove stalks gently; reserve any remaining brine as a starter culture for stinky tofu or other fermented preparations.
- 68 min
Serve at room temperature alongside white rice, or steam for 5 minutes and finish with a drizzle of sesame oil.
