A chef on TikTok has shared his family's secret recipe for using leftover broccoli scraps: turning them into a pickled snack.
The scoop
If you're using broccoli florets in a recipe, you might have leftover stalks that you're not quite sure what to do with. Before tossing them, Chef Yiming Lin (@yiming.lin.cooks) has shared a recipe on TikTok for turning them into a tasty treat.
@yiming.lin.cooks "Transform Broccoli Stems into Pickles & Slash Your Food Waste" #familymeal #zerowastecooking #broccoli
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In the video, Lin explains that while growing up, he was in charge of cutting broccoli at his family's restaurant. His mother told him to keep the stem scraps because she would use them in a pickled broccoli recipe.
To make this snack, Lin says to combine the broccoli stems with equal parts soy sauce, sugar, and vinegar in a container. Add a "splash" of mirin — or rice wine — before popping a lid on it.
Wait 24 hours. Then, the chef says you can eat the "delicious soy-marinated broccoli pickles." He says he likes to eat them with congee (rice porridge).
How it's helping
With the price of food and fresh vegetables continuing to go up, many people are looking for ways to make the most of what they buy. Some people turn broccoli stalks into soup while others transform them into broth.
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The Food Revolution Network said that repurposing food scraps helps your wallet by letting you buy less food, use them for compost and fertilizer, or grow more with their seeds.
In the video, the chef further explains that using up those broccoli stems is a "creative way to use food scraps," helping to keep food out of the landfill.
According to the Food Revolution Network, solid waste — including food scraps — is the third-largest source of human-related methane pollution in the U.S. because it can't properly decompose. Methane gas is a major contributor to air pollution and rising temperatures, which can affect human health and well-being.
Plus, when food is wasted, all of the resources used to grow or prepare it are essentially wasted, too. The Environmental Protection Agency emphasized that energy, water, transportation, land use, and storage contribute to resource waste that could power up to 50 million homes.
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People were intrigued by the chef's recipe suggestion for using up broccoli stems.
One person said, "I usually roast them along with the florets [because] the stems are my favorite part but this sounds dang good."
Another person commented about stems being too good to toss, writing, "That's the best part, I try not to waste anything!"
A third user compared the recipe to another food they enjoy: "My favorite Szechuan place has spicy numbing pickled broccoli stems that they give you FOR FREE before you order and they're my favorite thing ever."
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