Ingredients
Garlic
- 300 ggarlic cloves, peeled and left whole
- about 350 ml rice vinegar, enough to cover
- 1 tbspsugar, optional
To serve
- boiled dumplings
- a little of the greened vinegar as a dipping sauce
Directions
- Peel the cloves and trim off the hard root end. Leave them whole and unbruised — cut or crushed garlic goes cloudy and never greens properly.
- Dry the cloves completely on a cloth. Any water on them will make the jar cloudy and shorten how long it keeps.
- Pack them into a scrupulously clean, dry jar and pour over rice vinegar until they are covered by 1 cm. Stir in the sugar if you want the finished vinegar sweeter.
- Seal and put the jar somewhere cold — a fridge or an unheated room at around 4 to 10°C (39 to 50°F). Cold is the whole trick: garlic only turns green in the cold, which is why this is made in the twelfth lunar month and not in summer.
- Leave for two to four weeks. The cloves will turn first blue-green at the edges and then a clear jade all the way through.
- It is ready when the colour is even and the raw heat has gone. Keep it cold and eat within a few months.
- Serve alongside boiled dumplings at Lunar New Year, with a little of the green vinegar for dipping.
Technique
- The green is a real chemical reaction between the garlic’s own sulphur compounds and the acid, not a dye and not spoilage. It only happens at low temperature.
- Older garlic that has begun to sprout greens best. Very fresh garlic sometimes never colours at all.
- Everything must be dry — jar, lid and cloves. Water is what turns the vinegar cloudy.
Substitutions
- White wine vinegar in place of rice vinegar, which greens just as well.
- A little rock sugar for a rounder, sweeter pickle, which is common in Beijing.
Variations
- The vinegar itself is prized as much as the garlic and is used as a dumpling dip.
- Some households add a splash of baijiu, which sharpens the colour.
History
Pickled on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month in northern China, ready by Lunar New Year.
Frequently asked questions
What is Laba Garlic?
Laba Garlic is a fermented & pickled from China: garlic cloves steeped in vinegar until jade green; eaten with dumplings. Pickled on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month in northern China, ready by Lunar New Year.
How long does Laba Garlic take to make?
Laba Garlic takes 20 min plus 2 to 4 weeks of preparation and no cooking at all. The recipe makes fills a 500 ml jar. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Laba Garlic?
Yes, within limits. White wine vinegar in place of rice vinegar, which greens just as well. A little rock sugar for a rounder, sweeter pickle, which is common in Beijing.
What is the most important thing to get right in Laba Garlic?
Peel the cloves and trim off the hard root end. Leave them whole and unbruised — cut or crushed garlic goes cloudy and never greens properly.
