Anishi
Dried cakes of pounded taro leaves from the Ao Naga in Nagaland, yellowed in a bag, then dried by hot ash or sun and used to flavour meat dishes.
Goyang
Goyang (Sherpa) · Magane-saag goyang
Goyang is a Sherpa fermented wild leafy food of the Darjeeling hills and Sikkim. Rainy-season magane-saag leaves are packed in a bamboo basket, held at room temperature for about a month, then eaten fresh or dried and used in soup.
What goyang is
Goyang is a fermented wild leafy food made by the Sherpa community of the Darjeeling hills and Sikkim. The raw material is magane-saag, which the 2009 account identifies as Cardamine macrophylla. It is not gundruk, and it is not a generic mustard ferment.
The product is eaten fresh or dried. Its main reported use is in soup, where it is boiled with yak or beef and noodles to make a thick thukpa.
Where and when it is made
The 2009 account places goyang in the Darjeeling hills and Sikkim, and it gives the rainy season as the time when wild magane-saag is plentiful. A 2023 review table lists Sikkim and Nepal. That Nepal association is not confirmed by a primary source, and no origin date is established.
How it is made, as the 2009 account describes
The rainy-season leaves are washed, cut and squeezed, then packed tightly into a bamboo basket. The basket is lined and covered with fig leaves. The leaves are held at room temperature, about 15 to 25 degrees C, for one month. The 2009 figure shows a shortened flowchart of the same sequence.
Fresh goyang is moved to an airtight container, where the account says it keeps for two to three months. Sun-dried balls are said to keep for several months. The account gives no leaf mass, yield, monitoring plan or objective endpoint, so these durations are reported, not validated.
Microbes in the review tables
The 2009 account reports Lactococcus lactis and Pediococcus pentosaceus in its samples. Later reviews print different names for the same kind of organisms. The 2023 table lists Lactobacillus plantarum, L. brevis, L. lactis, Enterococcus faecium, Pediococcus pentosus and Candida spp.
These are review entries, not direct sample results. No single starter defines goyang, and no culture is added by the account.
Equipment named in the account
The account names a bamboo basket lined and covered with fig leaves, and an airtight container for the fresh product. It gives no dimensions, no material standards and no cleaning practice.
Safety and open questions
No validated household method exists in these sources. The durations are reported by the Sherpa account and are not shelf lives. The plant identity needs botanical and local confirmation, and the local name and process need community review.
Smell, taste and appearance do not establish safety. A qualified food-process review is needed before any practical method is offered.
History
The 2009 account describes the Sherpa preparation from the Darjeeling hills and Sikkim. It gives no origin date, and no primary evidence for the Nepal association was established.
Ingredients
Scaling: source batch only
Wild magane-saag leaves (Cardamine macrophylla)Rainy-season leaves, washed, cut and squeezed before packing. The 2009 account names the plant as Cardamine macrophylla; local identity has not been checked by a botanist or community source.
no mass or yield given
Method
Risks and precautions · Standard risk
Uncontrolled spoilage
No objective endpoint, discard rule, drying moisture target or tested shelf life is given. The storage durations are as reported by the source.
Hazard sourceThe descriptive account is not a validated household method.
Plant identity is a single-source attribution. Check local names and botany before gathering.
Smell, taste or appearance do not establish safety.
- Wash, cut and squeeze the wild magane-saag leaves gathered in the rainy season.
- Pack the leaves tightly into a bamboo basket lined and covered with fig leaves.
- Ferment at room temperature, about 15 to 25 degrees C, for one month.
- Transfer the fresh goyang to an airtight container. The source says it keeps for 2 to 3 months.
- Sun-dry the leaves into balls. The source says the dried balls keep for several months.
- Boil goyang in soup with yak or beef and noodles to make thick thukpa.
Conditions
Fermentation30 days
Temperature15–25°C
Temperature controlAmbient, monitored
Places
Darjeeling hills and Sikkim
Traditional preparation · Region evidenceThe 2009 account places the Sherpa preparation in the Darjeeling hills and Sikkim. A 2023 review table also lists Nepal. No origin is established.
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Sources
Buddhiman Tamang and Jyoti Prakash Tamang, Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge 8(1), 89-95History · Method · Uses · Identity
Traditional knowledge of biopreservation of perishable vegetable and bamboo shoots in Northeast India as food resourcesGoyang is a Sherpa food of the Darjeeling hills and Sikkim, prepared from wild magane-saag identified as Cardamine macrophylla.
Rainy-season leaves washed, cut, squeezed and packed in a bamboo basket lined and covered with fig leaves; about one month at 15 to 25 degrees C.
Fresh goyang kept 2 to 3 months in an airtight container; sun-dried balls keep several months, as reported.
Boiled in soup with yak or beef and noodles to make thick thukpa.
Cited in: What goyang is; Where and when it is made; How it is made, as the 2009 account describes; Microbes in the review tables; Equipment named in the account; Safety and open questions