Asparagus Make Great Fermented Veggies

Asparagus is a star ingredient in lacto-fermentation. It rocks as a perfect substitution for cucumbers in traditional dill pickles.

Most people don’t realize asparagus can be fermented in raw form, yet it tastes “cooked” and succulent. I think I like it best in pickled form.

What’s more, there is very little prep time. Rinse whole asparagus, and then simply take a clean one-quart jar. Measure one length of asparagus to fit within the jar. It should be 2-inches shorter than the jar lip. Use this as a template and cut the rest of the asparagus to length – or it’s fun even just to snap them. You can also make this a beautiful floral display in the jar, especially if you want to give them as gifts.

Use fresh garlic. You can decide if you want to mince these or leave them in slices, they both ferment nicely. When garlic is fermented it becomes milder. Go ahead and add some of the garlic, and add asparagus. I like to stand the spears upright to create a space for the dill to go in the center. Lightly pound the dill stems—you will get a little more of the dill flavor.

DIRECTIONS: Use a fermenter of choice to seal ingredients beneath the brine.

1. Make the brine: 2 cups of filtered water and 1 TBS unrefined sea salt
2. Fill the jar up with the brine covering the asparagus, dill, and garlic
3. When it gets near the top check to see if the brine overflow cup is going to fit. You can add some more garlic on the top
4. Clean the lip off. Install the gasket into the lid so you have a hermetic seal with the Perfect Pickler®. Now the cup will be able to receive the expanding brine (from gas formation during fermentation). Nothing can get back in because we are going to have our fermentation lock in place. Add water to the max line on the airlock. Now it can out gas but nothing can get back in. We are going to seal this little devil up and in four days at room temperature, we are going to be eating some pretty serious asparagus!

You will find a new pickling mate in asparagus. The texture holds well over time. Add a few spears to a salad, or to an antipasto plate.

© 2024 Bill Hettig