FERMENTED ASPARAGUS

Asparagus is one of my absolute favourite summer ferments! I decided to try it last year and I was delighted by how fabulous it tasted. 

Still lovely and crisp with lemony hints and a perfect wee sour tang after 10 days fermenting in a 2 % salt brine.

I added lemon slices, lemon thyme, a couple of cloves of crushed garlic and a couple of bay leaves, which contain tannins and stop your ferments going soggy!

Fermenting veggies is the best way of preserving them and extending the season so you can enjoy them at a later date. Especially with veggies like asparagus which have a short season!

So all you need to do is find a glass jar, preferably a clip top one, make up a salt brine, pack the asparagus in tightly with the herbs and make sure all the asparagus is submerged in the brine while it is fermenting!
I have been eating my asparagus straight out of the jar, in salads, in risotto, on open sandwiches, canapes and stirred through pasta. 
Don't cook your lovely asparagus or you will destroy all the probiotic bacteria, just add it to warm foods or eat it as it is!

Ingredients

• 2 or 3 bunches of asapargus
• 3 or 4 lemon slices
• 2 or 3 cloves garlic, bashed
• 2 or 3 bay leaves
• a few sprigs of fresh thyme (optional)
• 20g natural salt
• 1 litre filtered water

Method

1. Wash your glass jar with hot soapy water and rinse it well
2. Trim the ends of the asparagus so that they fit under the shoulder of your jar, you don't want any bits sticking up or they will be at high risk of mould.
3. Put the herbs, garlic and bay leaves in the jar then start packing in the asparagus, you really want enough to fill your jar quite tightly.
4. Dissolve 20g of salt, any natural salt, himalyan pink salt or sea salt, in 1 litre of filtered water, or if you have a smaller jar, then half the amount to 500 mls water and 10g salt.
5. Pour the salt brine over the asparagus, making sure its completely covered.
6. Add a weight to keep the asparagus under the brine. The bottom end of a butternut squash, trimmed to fit the jar works well, a cabbage leaf trimmed to fit or a wee plastic ziplock bag scrunched in the top. 
7. Veggies have a habit of floating to the top of the jar, and if they are not fully submerged in brine while they are actively fermenting, then they will be at risk of Kahm yeast, which is a wild yeast, and although not harmful it can be a precursor to actual mould. It always forms at the top of the jar, if there is oxygen present and forms a white film which spreads by filaments throughout the ferment.
8. Once you have your jar full and weighted, you can clip it shut and leave it at room temperature to ferment for 7 to 10 days.

​The brine will turn cloudy as the fermentation proceeds and you will see some bubbling so put a bowl underneath the jar to catch any escaping brine.
Try the asparagus after 7 to 10 days and when you are happy with the flavour, then transfer it to the fridge where it will keep for a few months, but will become softer the longer you store it.
It will taste a bit sour, and lemony and should be lovely and crisp, not raw tasting!