Bánh bao
Vietnamese steamed wheat buns wrapped around seasoned pork, mushrooms, Chinese sausage and hard-boiled quail eggs. This from-scratch version uses yeast and self-rising flour.
Cà muối
Ca muoi · Salted eggplant · Vietnamese salted eggplant pickle
Vietnamese salted and fermented small eggplant, dried on the day of purchase, then held submerged in warm salty water with garlic and galingale flower for a week or longer.
What it is
Cà muối is a Vietnamese salted and fermented small eggplant. The name means salted eggplant and is used for the eggplant pickle only. It is distinct from dưa muối, the salted leafy greens, which are mustard or beet pickles.
The 2013 study names ca muoi as eggplant fermentation. Some local names and variants are not verified.
Sources for this section
Use and place
A newspaper food feature describes cà muối as a salty, slightly sour condiment served with meals, especially with rice-field-crab soup and steamed rice. It also pairs the pickle with boiled chicken and other Hanoi dishes. The feature says it is eaten all year. These are attributed examples, not a national survey.
The feature describes traditional earthen vats, with eggplant held under a bamboo trellis and a millstone. It gives no dimensions or construction method.
Sources for this section
Method as published
The newspaper method dries the eggplants, ideally on the day of purchase, then washes them and immerses them for a week or longer in warm salty water. Minced garlic and galingale flower are added, and the jar is kept out of the sun. No ingredient quantities, brine strength, temperature, sanitation directions or storage interval are given.
A 2024 study of Hanoi market samples lists two to three days at ambient temperature for one eggplant sample, with a shelf life of three to four days that is not defined by storage conditions. The two timings do not reconcile, and neither is adopted as a safe interval.
Sources for this section
Microbes
The 2013 study reports 881 lactic acid bacteria isolates from 21 Vietnamese vegetable-fermentation samples across three product types. Its percentages are pooled, and the abstract names Lactobacillus pentosus as the species most recovered from fermented eggplant without an eggplant-specific count. The 2024 study records one Lactobacillus fermentum isolate from a cà muối sample without a denominator. No succession can be inferred from these results.
Sources for this section
Limits and comparisons
No validated endpoint, failure criterion or safe storage duration has been established for the household method. The process is not validated, and the page is not a safety guide.
Burong mustasa (veg-0020) is a Filipino mustard pickle, a comparison only. Shibazuke (veg-0053) is a Kyoto eggplant pickle, a different product.
Sources for this section
History
No dated origin or chronology was found. A newspaper food feature describes cà muối as served year-round and associates it with rice-field-crab soup in summer. Its anecdotes are cultural, not dated historical evidence.
Ingredients
Scaling: source batch only
Small eggplantDried on the day of purchase, then washed.
Amount not stated
no batch quantity in the sourceSaltDissolved in warm water to make the brine.
brine strength not given
GarlicMinced.
Amount not stated
Galingale flower
Amount not stated
Method
Risks and precautions · Standard risk
Unvalidated home process
No validated endpoint, failure criteria or safe storage interval is given for the household method.
Hazard sourceSensory qualities and elapsed time are not evidence of safety. This page is research material, not a preservation instruction.
- Dry the eggplants, ideally on the day they are bought.
- Wash them, then immerse them in warm salty water with minced garlic and galingale flower.
- Hold the eggplants submerged for a week or longer, depending on the weather. Keep the jar out of the sun.
- Eat the pickle when it is crisp and slightly salty. The sensory description is not a safety endpoint.
Conditions
Fermentationfrom 7 days
Temperature controlAmbient, monitored
Places
Vietnam
Documented preparation · Country evidenceThe 2013 study places the fermented eggplant within Vietnam without a locality. The Hanoi market and Nghe An references come from a newspaper food feature and are not dated.
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Sources
PubMedMethod · History
Lactic acid bacteria from Vietnamese fermented vegetables (2013)Nguyen et al. 2013 names ca muoi as eggplant fermentation and dua muoi as mustard and beet fermentation.
The study isolated 881 lactic acid bacteria from 21 vegetable-fermentation samples; percentages are pooled and not assigned to eggplant.
Cited in: What it is; Use and place; Method as published; Microbes; Limits and comparisons