Hi! I'm Erica from FarmSteady, and today
I'm going to turn a bunch of fresh
asparagus (3 bunches actually) into
asparagus pickles. Fermenting your
asparagus, instead of quick pickling them,
allows intense savoriness to develop and
a kind of slow tangy-ness to build.
They're so delicious and great as a side
or on a cheese board. And for these
pickles, we like using the whole spear, or
as much as we can, so instead of chopping it into pieces, you're going to cut off
the top four inches of the asparagus. So
they could be full spears. Don't discard
the rest of it. Just the woody end bit. And the in-between part you can use in
omelets or a frittata. They're great. For
this recipe, we add garlic, red chili
flakes, and some lemon peel to preserve
some of that fresh asparagus flavor.
After fermenting, the flavor is going to
be more like a cooked asparagus than a
fresh one, so that lemon adds a nice
little zing. And if you're new to this
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Now, let's get started making
these asparagus pickles. For this recipe,
you'll need 2 to 3 pounds of fresh
asparagus, 2 cloves of garlic (thinly
sliced), 1 lemon (just the peel), and a
teaspoon of red chili flakes. For your
asparagus, you just want the top
4-inch tip. Now let's get these spears in.
If you're packing in a lot of them, this
might be easier to do with the jar on its side.
Tuck them all in there. Now add some of
your sliced garlic. Add your red chili flakes.
Now tuck in some of that lemon peel to
add a little bit of freshness. Top with
your fermentation weight. Then pour in your brine.
This brine is 2 tablespoons of
kosher salt and 1 quart of water. Fill it
up. You want your asparagus to be fully
submerged underneath the brine
when weighted. Perfect. Now, add your lid,
and your airlock, and ferment away. After
5 to 7 days, your asparagus is done fermenting,
ready to eat, and should be
stored in the fridge. If garlic and chili
flakes aren't your favorite, this recipe
would also be great with thyme and lemon peel.
Again, I'm Erica from FarmSteady. Thanks
so much for tuning in, and check out
farmsteady.com for all our recipes and
great fermentation kits.
