Atsara for Breakfast. Or Lunch. Or Dinner.

A couple of posts back, I mentioned making some atsarang ampalaya (pickled bitter gourd). The day after that, I used the same method to make atsarang mustasa (mustard greens). Thus far, this is the only way you can get me to consume a lot of ampalaya and mustasa. I prefer the ampalayang atsarang mustasa, which reminds me of kimchi (texture) and wasabe (taste). Yum.

I cut the ampalaya into thin rings and soaked them in water for about an hour, after which I dumped the water into the sink and salted the rings, left those to stand for about another hour. Meanwhile, I boiled a cider vinegar-muscovado sugar solution--1 part vinegar to 1 part sugar, and then let this cool. I washed off the salt then dumped the vinegar/sugar solution over the ampalaya and let this stand in the refrigerator for a bout 12 hours (overnight).

As for the mustasa: Cut off the roots and wash in water to get rid of the little bits of soil that cling to the stems. Squeeze (wring) out the water from the leaves. Roll the leaves so that they resemble rolled up carpets then slice lengthwise. Dump the raw leaves in a deep bowl. Meanwhile, boil the 1 part vinegar-1 part sugar solution. When this has cooled, dump it on the raw leaves and refrigerate overnight.