Fermented ginger beets
These easy fermented ginger beets are a great way to use up beets. All you need is beets, salt, ginger, and a few days to let them ferment. The flavors magically transform as fermentation proceeds.
Servings: 1 quart
Equipment
- 1 quart jar
- 1 air-lock lid or a rubber band and clean washcloth
Ingredients
- 2 lb beets peeled and trimmed
- 1½ tbsp fine sea salt
- 2 tbsp ginger peeled
Instructions
- Shred beets on the large holes of a box grater. Grate ginger on microplane grater. In a large bowl, mix together beets, ginger, and salt, massaging the salt into the beets. Let sit at room temperature for about an hour.
- While beets are sitting, clean a 1-quart jar with hot soapy water.
- After the beets have set for an hour, taste the beets and add more salt as needed- you want the beets to taste salty, but not overwhelmingly salty. Pack beets into the clean jar, pressing beets down to expel any air bubbles. Pour any accumulated juice into jar. If the beets are not fully submerged, add enough filtered water until they are covered, while leaving 1/2 inch of headspace at the top of the jar.
- Place a fermentation weight or the trimmed top of a beet in the jar- this will keep the beets submerged. Cover the jar with airlock lid or rubber band a clean washcloth over the jar's mouth. Place jar in a dish, in case it bubbles over.
- Leave in cool, dark spot. If beets start to foam, remove cover and scoop foam out of jar (mine bubbled and foamed like crazy for 4 days) and replace cover
- Taste every day until desired sourness is developed (fermentation will occur faster in warmer temperatures, slower in cooler temperatures), then replace fermentation lid with regular lid, and store in fridge. I let this batch ferment for 8 days.
Notes
Yield: 1 quart
favorite fermentation airlock lid