Sichuan Paocai (SCP)

Sichuan Paocai (SCP) or Chinese sauerkraut is a traditional fermented food, which possesses unique flavours driven by various microbiota. Like kimchi in Korea, it is a fermentation of primarily chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa). It relies on salt brine rather than vinegar with the addition of vegetables such as chilli peppers, long beans, daikon, lettuce, carrots, and other flavourants such as garlic, Sichuan pepper, ginger and star anise.

The texture of the vegetables should be crunchy, sour, crisp and refreshing. They are eaten uncooked.

Historically, pao cai was developed as a way of preserving fresh vegetables during times of famine. Using salt rather than vinegar helps preservation by reducing water activity rather than changing pH.

The main fermentation bacteria are Lactobacilli (Xiong et al., 2012; Cao et al., 2017). The main species found are  Enterococcus faecalis, Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis, Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp. mesenteroides,  Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus casei and Lactobacillus zeae. 

The appearance of various bacilli follows a sequence in time. E. faecalis and L. lactis subsp. lactis were mainly present in the early stage of fermentation and died in the later stages. Then, the other bacteria come in.

Benefits

The pickled vegetables aid digestion.

References

Cao, J., Yang, J., Hou, Q., Xu, H., Zheng, Y., Zhang, H., & Zhang, L. (2017). Assessment of bacterial profiles in aged, home-made Sichuan paocai brine with varying titratable acidity by PacBio SMRT sequencing technology. Food Control, 78, pp. 14-23 (Article).

Xiao, M., Peng, Z., Hardie, W. J., Huang, T., Liu, Z., Zhang, Y., … & Xiong, T. (2022). Exploring the typical flavours formation by combined with metatranscriptomics and metabolomics during Chinese Sichuan paocai fermentation. LWT, 153, 112474.

Xiao, Y., Xiong, T., Peng, Z., Liu, C., Huang, T., Yu, H., & Xie, M. (2018). Correlation between microbiota and flavours in fermentation of Chinese Sichuan Paocai. Food Research International, 114, pp. 123-132.

Xiong, T., Guan, Q., Song, S., Hao, M., & Xie, M. (2012). Dynamic changes of lactic acid bacteria flora during Chinese sauerkraut fermentation. Food Control, 26(1), pp. 178-181 (Article).

Yang, Z., Luo, F., Zhong, K., Huang, C., Yu, Z., Peng, Z., … & Gao, H. (2021). Effect of Bacillus subtilis Y61 inoculation on bacterial community and metabolic profile of sichuan paocai fermentation. Lwt, 137, 110393.