It’s almost Halloween. If this ramps up your fear of vampires, consider pickling some garlic. Put up a pound of cloves now in a briny solution and by Oct. 31 they’ll be ready to offer you full vampiric protection with less pungency and bite than your usual pound of garlic.
Max Urata wrote for a recipe for Japanese-style garlic pickles, although he didn’t specify vampires as a driving force. Probably just wants to munch on them, or mix them in with rice, or serve them as a condiment.
Japanese pickles are typically made with a sweet-sour brine of vinegar, sugar and mirin (amazu- or amasu-zuke); or a salty brine that includes soy sauce (shoyu-zuke). All manner of vegetables, some fruits and even fish are preserved this way, but while some can be ready in a few hours or a couple of days, garlic takes at least two weeks.
I found a few more suggestions in the book "Quick & Easy Tsukemono," by Ikuko Hisamatsu (Joie Inc., 1999). If you’re interested in exploring Japanese pickles (tsukemono), from cabbage to eggplant to mushrooms to burdock, this book is a great guide, with lots of illustrated step-by-step instructions. You can find it at the public library or buy it via online sites such as Amazon.
Hisamatsu also suggests burying garlic cloves in honey. The garlicky syrup is a cold remedy, ready in three days, she says, while the cloves turn mellow and sweet in about a month. Or cover blanched garlic cloves in miso thinned with a little mirin. These should be ready in a week but grow mellow with a month of curing.
Some options with these recipes: If you like, add a chili pepper or a small square of kombu (dried kelp). And if your kitchen is very hot, keep your jars refrigerated from Day 1.
By the way, unless you are a strict naturalist, buy peeled garlic cloves, available at many supermarkets and in tubs at Costco. Liberating a pound of cloves from their papery skins could make you give up the whole project.
SWEET-SOUR GARLIC PICKLES
1 pound garlic cloves, peeled
1-1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup mirin (sweet rice wine)
2 tablespoons sugar (or more if you like sweeter pickles)
1 tablespoon salt
Blanch garlic in boiling water, about 2 minutes; drain. Place in sterilized jar.
Heat vinegar, mirin, sugar and salt in microwave or on stovetop, stirring to dissolve salt and sugar. Pour over garlic. Let cool, then cover jar. Let stand in cool place away from sunlight (a cupboard is good) 3 to 5 days. Refrigerate after that. Best eaten after 2 weeks.
GARLIC IN SOY SAUCE
1 pound garlic cloves, peeled
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup mirin (sweet rice cooking wine)
Blanch garlic in boiling water, about 2 minutes; drain. Place in sterilized jar.
Combine soy sauce, vinegar and mirin; pour over garlic. Cover jar. Let stand in cool place away from sunlight (a cupboard is good) 3 to 5 days, shaking jar occasionally. Refrigerate after that. Best eaten after 2 weeks.
Nutritional information unavailable.
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