Burong Mustasa (Fermented Mustard Greens) Revealed

We have stopped blogging for a long time, attending to life's lemons; but we have never stopped cooking (and eating, of course!) We have slowly (like a drunk snail) kept updates on our Facebook Page every so and so. It's here.

In the middle of a summer thunderstorm yesterday, I was able to score great mustard greens (Tagalog: mustasa) at the wet market. I took nearly two kilos of it and decided to make fermented mustard greens (Tagalog: Burong Mustasa, a dish attributed to Southern Tagalog, Philippines) which I missed so much.

Being part Batangueña, I have kept and honored this dish. I learned about the recipe from my fraternal grandmother just before she died in early 2000. My grandmother was known to make these in her town in Batangas. I remember how my dad joked about it, that it was the burong mustasa which has enabled him and his siblings to attend school. That might be half truth but the idea has created a nostalgic feeling which I kept every time I prepare the dish.

It took a while for me to perfect it. During the first tries, I had to eat the whole batch of burong mustasa which were extremely bitter even after fermentation. Also, I had saltly ones. I have to say, years of practice has made me confident to finally share how I was taught it is done.

How to make it

Make sure you wash the mustard greens well to take off dirt.

Slice in half-inch length. Or your preferred size. I have seen some prepare it without slicing, but this size works for me.


Put salt and squeeze the sliced mustard greens until the bitter juice separates.

Drain the bitter juice.

Wash the squeezed greens with water to take off the extra saltiness.

Drain it again to take the water out. Place them in sterilized bottles and set aside.

Preparing the rice milk

Usually, I put extra water when cooking rice to get the rice milk, but in case you missed doing that, here's how to prepare it.

After washing it with water to clean, put the rice in a pot with 2 cups of water.

Bring to a boil to create rice milk (that's the sticky starchy liquid which you get from boiling rice).

Set aside.

Let it cool down completely.

Once it has cooled down, drain the rice to separate the rice milk. (Don't throw the rice, you can still eat it. Just add yogurt, a dash of honey and some fruits!)

Pour it in the bottle with the mustard greens.

The fermentation process for burong mustasa takes about 2 to 3 days. This is best served as side dish (a personal favorite is this with fried tilapia) or this can be used as vegetable to sauteed dishes.

UPDATE (Sunday, 8 June): It was a happy ending for our burong mustasa today. We had it over breakfast with black rice and fried dried squid.

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What to know how traditional fermented food benefit you? Jyoti Prakash Tamang of Sikkim Central University talked about it here.

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Don't have time to make one? I found one seller of burong mustasa at SIDCOR Sunday Market (Eton Centris, EDSA corner Quezon Avenue in Quezon City; of course, during Sundays only) and also available, ready-to-eat in the markets of Tayabas, Quezon and Los Baños, Laguna.