I’ve been walking to my local grocery store as a form of exercise and let me tell you, there is nothing like a bag of flour in your backpack to make you question your intelligence. The other day I was driving and chatting with a sister about the times we used to ride buses to get everywhere. We read many books, took many naps and missed many stops. Those were the days and let me tell you…we are glad they are over. 😆😆😆
But on to ferments! The Internet tends to be a helpful place when it comes to recipes but the info on lacto-fermentation made me feel like a dunce. I mean, did I really need a scale? Was my mason jar not clean enough if I didn’t boil it? Would I die of botulism if I got it wrong? Why was it called lacto-fermentation if it was just salt and water? Why is botulism still a thing? I thought we got rid of that along with scurvy! And so on.
Finally, I adapted a recipe by The Kitchn and called it a day. Food, and making it, should be pleasurable, not stress-inducing.
NOTE: On my first go round, all of my vegetables received the same treatment: 1 – 2 tsps of sea salt, dissolved into filtered water and poured over my vegetables of choice—cabbage, cucumber, carrots and red onion. I kept the veggies from floating up using a piece of cabbage. I added seasonings and spices per taste.
It took a few weeks for all my veggies to taste “pickled” but the carrots were far and away my favorite, reminding me of those post-party, late-night, taco runs in college. You know the ones I’m talking about? The food trucks and brick-and-mortar shops doing brisk business at 2am, serving up huge burritos or two-bite tortilla rounds filled with birria (my favorite), along with wedges of lime, radishes and those spicy, delicious pickled carrots. Hmmmm. You would think that I would’ve Googled “Mexican pickled carrots”, or as a nod to memory, “taco truck carrots” but I wanted to use what I had on hand at the time—salt.
My second go round, I did proper research. My onions had been good the first time but it lacked the color I was looking for. Six recipes later, I went for it. PS: I kept the same salt brine mix for my carrots but added 3 – 5 capfuls of apple cider vinegar after two days for taste. Here is the recipe for my onions using what I had on hand at the time.
Pickled Onions
Ingredients
– 1/4 cup lime or lemons (I used lemons)
– 1/4 cup white or apple cider vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
– 1/4 cup water
– 1/2 tsp salt (plus more to taste)
– 1/2 tsp sugar ( I used brown sugar) plus more to taste
Instructions
– Thinly slice your onions and place them in a clean, dry mason jar.
– Bring all of the ingredients and preferred seasonings to a boil and then turn off the heat. (I added 5 scored cloves of garlic and 1/4 tsp of red pepper flakes.)
– Pour the brining liquid over the onions immediately. Note: the smell might singe your nose hairs. Apple cider vinegar is no joke.
– Let sit until the jar reaches room temperature. Then close the lid and pop into the fridge door for further fermentation. You can also use it right away but I think they taste better two days later when all the flavors have melded, the apple cider no longer causes a mouth pucker and the onions have taken on a deep fuschia color. Consume within a month.
PS: In the process of writing this, I looked up the ingredient for taco truck carrots and I cannot wait to try those next.
RECIPE NOTES FROM THE KITCHN FOR LACTO-FERMENTATION
Salt: Use salt that is free of iodine and/or anti-caking agents, which can inhibit fermentation.
Water: Chlorinated water can inhibit fermentation, so use spring, distilled, or filtered water if you can. It is also recommended to rinse the vegetables in un-chlorinated water rather than tap water.
Tags: #fermentedcarrots #fermentedonions #lactofermentation #pickledcarrots #pickledonions