I love fermenting foods! It’s a great way to preserve food, get probiotics, and save money, all wrapped up into one salty, tangy, bubbly jar of love.
Today I want to show you one of my favorite ways to ferment jalapenos, making a delicious accompaniment to just about every dish imaginable. This is my fermented take on escabeche, a Mexican style vegetable pickle. This is not a standard recipe per se, but instructions on how to make it for yourself, using the quantities of ingredients you have. There is also going to be a small amount of math involved, so grab your calculator. Also, some patience is necessary as fermentation doesn’t always happen overnight. You can expect to wait at least three days for your escabeche to be ready.
Let’s get started!
Supply List
- Sterile quart sized mason jars, lids and bands
- Salt
- Filtered Water
- Fresh Garlic
- Fresh Jalapenos ( I also add some serranos for heat)
- Fresh Carrots
- Fresh Onions
- Fresh Radishes(optional)
- Cabbage leaves or other weights to keep everything in the brine
- Kitchen Scale
- Knife and cutting board
- Large bowl
- Calculator, or just do the math, it’s not hard
- Dried or fresh Oregano
- Bay Leaves
Instructions
First
Rinse off your vegetables, and peel the carrots. Slice all your vegetables however you wish. I suggest cutting them into one or two bite pieces. Place them into a large bowl and toss together so you can get everything to distribute evenly. Again, I don’t have numbers or amounts for you. You are going to go with the amount you want or have on hand. The amount in the photo above made two quart sized jars for me. Here’s how I sliced my vegetables:
Second
Time to start adding everything to the jars. I like to place the oregano (just a little, maybe a teaspoon or so), bay leaf, and garlic in the bottom of my jar first. Then start adding in the vegetable mix, pressing down as you go, to make sure the jar is packed tight.
Once your jar(s) is filled, it’s time to make the brine.
Third
There are a few different ways to make the brine for your escabeche. If you like salty flavor, simply put one tablespoon of salt on top of your vegetables, fill your jar to within an inch of the top with filtered water. Tighten on a lid and give your jar a good shake to dissolve the salt. Open back up, push everything back down below the water line and add your weight. You can purchase fermenting weights that will fit inside a mason jar, or you can fill a small, snack sized zip top bag with a little filtered water, close it up and use it in the top of the jar. You can also use a leaf of cabbage to stuff down into the jar to keep everything submerged.
I chose to add salt by weight of water. Anywhere between 2% to 5% of the weight of the water you are using is how much salt you will add. I chose a 2% salt solution for my escabeche. How I like to do this, and it made enough brine for both jars:
- Place empty jar of the same size as the one you are using on your scale, set to grams, and press tare.
- Fill with water and take note of the weight.
- Calculate 2% of the weight for your salt weight. For example: if you have 500 grams of water you will multiply by .02 to get how much salt you need. So: 500g x .02 = 10g.
- Re-zero or tare your scale to read 0. You can add the 10g of salt directly to the jar, a little at a time.
- Place a lid on the jar, shake to dissolve the salt.
Pour your 2% salt water brine into your jar of veggies, filling to within one inch of the top. Add your cabbage leaf, or weight of choice, and press down so that everything is submerged. Put your lid on and finger tighten. Have a towel handy, things can spill and overflow!
Fourth
Place your jar(s) somewhere cool and out of direct sunlight. I like to put a bowl or plate underneath, to catch any leakage from very active fermentation. Check daily, giving them a ‘burp’ once a day. After 3 days, you should see some bubbling, indicating fermentation. You can place your escabeche in the refrigerator at this point, or keep fermenting for a stronger, more sour flavor. Place it in your refrigerator once it is to your liking. Yes, you can sample it while it’s fermenting.
Closing Thoughts
- Fermenting is a great way to boost your family’s probiotics! It is economical, easy, and fun!
- Give yourself some time to adjust to the flavor if you are new to fermented foods.
- Escabeche is great with Mexican food, eggs, sandwiches, salads, or as a snack all on its own.
- If you are in doubt about it’s safety, like it has an awful, rotting smell, or lots of gross fuzzy stuff growing on it, throw it out and try again! Most ferments last under refrigeration for at least 6 months, but always use your best judgement when deciding whether or not something is safe to eat.
I would love to hear about how your escabeche turned out! Please leave a comment and let me know!
Curious how to make the sauerkraut above? Stay tuned!