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Fermented Asparagus Recipe

The best fermented asparagus recipe flavoured with organo, mustard seeds, red crushed peper, garlic, and jalopeno. This offers the same unique flavour as pickled asparagus, but with added microbes and nutrients from the lacto-fermentation process.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time0 minutes
Fermentation Time7 days
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Fermented Food
Keyword: lacto-fermentation

Equipment

  • 1-litre Airlock Fermenter or 1 L Fido jar

Ingredients

  • 3 small garlic cloves, peeled
  • 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
  • 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 small jalapeno, halved and seeded
  • 1 pound asparagus (there may be leftovers)
  • 600 mL non-chlorinated water
  • 12 grams unrefined sea salt

Instructions

  • Dissolve salt into warm water, making a brine. Set aside to cool.
  • Wash a 1 L Airlock Fermenter with soap and water. Rinse well. Put the garlic, crushed pepper, mustard seeds, and oregano at the bottom of the jar. Set aside.
  • Remove thin spears from the asparagus bundle, leaving only medium to thick spears to ferment. Ensure you have at least 400 grams of medium to thick speears to make this ferment in a 1 L Airlock Fermenter. Wash asparagus in cool water.
  • Trim tough, woody ends of old spears, if needed.
  • Stand one asparagus spear vertically against the side of a 1 L Airlock Fermenter. Mark where it measures in line with the shoulder of the jar, about 4 inches, then trim spear accordingly.
  • Gather remaining medium to thick spears; line up the bunch by the tip. Align the tip of the trimmed spear with the tips of the bundled spears. Use the 4-inch trimmed spear as a guide to cut the remaining spears to the same length. Add these, tip down, to the jar. Do the same for the remaining section of asparagus spears. (Most asparagus spears are long enough for two 4-inch peices.)
  • Wedge the jalapeno halves down the side of the jar. Continue packing spears until snug. Place a flat glass weight on top of the asparagus ends (optional, if packed snugly).
  • Pour the room-temperature brine into the jar, covering the asparagus ends by 1 inch while leaving 1/2 inch of headspace.
  • Insert an airlock filled with non-chlorinated water to the fill line; place in a dark area for 7 days at 18-22ºC. Asparagus are ready to eat, but can be stored for an additional 3 weeks in a fridge or cold room, <12ºC, to reduce histamine and enhance flavour. Once ready to eat, replace airlock with the plug and store in a fridge.