It’s asparagus season and bunches of them keep appearing in our fridge. I could eat the spears with butter three meals a day but I managed to save a bunch for pickling after a friend’s recommendation. The recipe I used is simple:
Ingredients:
-1 bunch of asparagus
-1 or more carrots to fill jar
-4 radishes
-4 cloves garlic
-1 teaspoon coriander seeds
-1 teaspoon black peppercorns
-2 cups water mixed with 1.5 tablespoons salt
-1 wide-mouth, 1-quart mason jar
Note: you can substitute a second bunch of asparagus for the carrots and radishes, depending on space in your jar
Directions:
Wash the veggies. Snap off the woody bottoms of the asparagus and see how they fit into the jar, heads down. If they stick out from the mouth of the jar, cut more off the bottom until they do. You can toss these bits into the jar or compost them. Cut each carrot lengthwise and then cut each half lengthwise again. Cut each of these four carrot lengths in half. Cut the radishes into quarters. Slice the garlic cloves thinly. Add the carrots, garlic and radishes to the jar and spoon in the spices. Pour the thoroughly-mixed salt water into the jar. The water should cover the vegetables completely. If they don’t, you can either add more veggies or more salt water. I put in the carrot and the radishes because I still had space. If you prefer, start with two bunches of asparagus and forgo the root vegetables.
Here they are in the jar:
To seal them from the air (which keeps them from molding and allows fermentation to occur), I used a different method than I described in my post on how to pickle anything. I took a smaller jar filled with water and placed it into the mouth of the one-quart jar like this:
Cover the top with a towel to keep out dust and then put the jar in your cabinet. You might want to put a towel under it, too, in case the carbon dioxide released during fermentation makes some brine bubble over. After a week or two, they should be ready.
Tags: Asparagus, carrots, fermented food, radishes, salt brine, salt pickles
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I’m so excited to find your site, and see that you’re an Oakland person as well! I can’t wait to try these pickling recipes, I’ve been looking for a good description on how to start. Thanks!
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thanks for the process… I can’t wait to see how your pickles came out! I started a big batch tonight (six bunches, give or take) with green garlic, hot pepper flakes, peppercorns and nutmeg. oh and a couple of spring onions to fill out the crock.
but I have a question: all the vinegar pickling recipes I found called for blanching the asparagus for 1 minute or so first, so I went ahead and did it (also, very few recipes on the internet for fermented asparagus pickles!). any thoughts on pre-cooking asparagus? did you consider it?
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Yum, that sounds good, especially with the nutmeg. I haven’t tried blanching my veggies before pickling them, and I’m not sure why it’s done with vinegar pickles. My guess is that vegetables pickled in vinegar need some extra help softening up because they don’t really ferment. I’m curious and I’ll look into it. Write back and let us know how yours come out!
I let these carrots and asparagus go about a week and a half before I gave in to temptation and started eating them. They were crunchy with a rather mild flavor. I guess my roommates liked them too; they disappeared in two days.
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Hey, Eric! It’s the end of asparagus season here in Wisconsin, and I’d like to pick up a few bunches tomorrow while we can still get them and either freeze or pickle them (maybe both). I was concerned that the fermentation process might increase the sulfur flavor, as fermentation seems to have a tendency to concentrate all sorts of flavors. Did you notice any of this, or am I just being paranoid? Thanks!
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Hey Bekah, pickling the asparagus does concentrate their, um asparagusness. But it’s not a sulfur flavor. Try it and tell me what you think.
Also, did you see the recipe for preserved asparagus in the New York Times the day before yesterday? They won’t ferment this way, but they’ll taste good and last a year without being frozen.
How do you like the water kefir? I’ve yet to try that. I’ve been wondering if I can just plop my milk kefir into some sweetened water, but I get the feeling it’s not that easy.
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Can you pickle asparagus after it has been frozen or does it have to be fresh?
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That’s a good question. I haven’t ever made salt brine pickles with frozen veggies, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. You’d want to be sure to let them defrost first, and it might help to add some fresh stuff, like onions and carrots, too. The asparagus might not come out as crispy as it would have if it had been used fresh, but the pickling process should still work. As for vinegar pickles, I’ve definitely seen recipes for them that use frozen vegetables.
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Thanks, after I try it I will let you know if it works.
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I did pickled carrots and one asparagus spread in the jar. The jars have a white scum on the bottom now…do you have any suggestions on how to salvage the carrots? I did taste them, and they taste good still
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Hi Gizelle, do you mean that you have a milky-colored sediment at the bottom of your jar? That white stuff is a completely natural byproduct of the fermentation, so it’s nothing to worry about. Enjoy the pickles!
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I’m going to try pickling asparagus tonight. I was going to try to do a water bath. What do you suggest 10min, 20 min. And how long until I can eat you think? Also, do you boil the water/salt mixture before adding it to make sure the salt is completely disolved?
Let me know, thanks -
Hi Sayre, I’m not sure what you mean by a water bath. As for the brine, I find there’s no need to heat the water. I just use fine salt and a bit of brisk stirring and it dissolves quickly.
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My husband and I just did 4 quarts tonight (minus the radishes) and I’m excited to try them! I’m glad I found your blog and this recipe. Thanks!
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I’m pickling asparagus (in a vinegar brine and a boiling water bath) tonight, but next weekend I’m going to buy five more pounds of asparagus and ferment a pound or two. This looks delicious!
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I just made this recipe. I have the white sediment also. Its been about 10 days. They taste slightly yeasty and not very sour. Does that mean that they just need a bit longer? Should they taste yeasty at all?
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Hi Jennifer, Yes the sediment is normal and so is a bit of a yeasty taste. They don’t become overwhelmingly sour (the way vinegar pickles do) but if you let them ferment longer their flavor will get stronger. How crunchy are they? Keep in mind that the longer they ferment, the softer they will get. Another option for stronger flavor is to put the lid on and store them in the fridge, which stops the fermentation but giving the seasonings more time to soak into the asparagus spears.
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Hi, I made Pickled Asparagus and it has a granular sediment on the bottom of the jars. They are crisp and not soggy or slimey, the brine is clear and they taste good. I do alot of canning but this is the first time I have made pickled Asparagus. Is this normal?
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Hi Rheanna, sediment is normal. Usually it is whitish and cloudy looking and speckled with whatever spices you added. Your pickles sound good to me! Glad to hear they’re crispy and tasty. Out of curiosity, how big are the grains?
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Thank you for your reply Eric, The granulars are best discribed as gun powder, light in color (the hillbilly in me comes out in the discription) I am thinking yeast? Like I said the brine is clear and there is no cloudyness in the jars. The jars are sealed well. The recipe I used was my Grandmothers, Pickling Salt, Vinegar, whole Garlic and fresh Dill. I processed in a water bath. I use the same recipe for all my pickles and have never had this sediment. Your input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!!
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Pingback from Truly Pickled Asparagus | NateElston.com on June 18, 2011 at 1:46 pm
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I have made pickled aspargus and noticed in the recipe there is no vinegar. I am curious about that and am almost tempted in trying this recipe. ihave noticed when using vinegar you must be careful on how much you use.
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@Candice Yes, there’s no vinegar in the recipe and that’s by design. The vinegar style of pickling preserves vegetables as they are. The salt style of pickling allows the vegetables to ferment (which also has a preserving effect). Give the recipe a try, no vinegar required.
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I am going to try this recipe tonight. I will keep you posted. I actually like that it has no vineagar becauase I found no matter how much you cut the vinegar in other recipes it still is tangy and takes away from the flavour.
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I am repeatedly getting white scum and nasty looking stuff on the surface on my dill pickles after as little as a week at 75degF. I had a few pickles break the surface, and I tried your technique of a weighted jar, but one STILL got full of 1/2″ of yucky looking something, maybe wild yeast. Is this normal? I would love to avoid this if possible! Thanks
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@MikeRoBrew, Yes, mold and scum are common on the surface of your fermenting pickles. Here’s an example picture of mold on the surface of sauerkraut from a nice recipe for making kraut. One option is to spoon the mold out as it occurs. If you want to avoid mold in the first place, check out this post about using an airlock.
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Thanks a lot, I am already a homebrewer (thus the name) and I will try this out ASAP and report back. I was surprised when my instructions for pickling did not include the same rigorous sanitation as for brewing. I will now apply those techniques and see if I can ferment ‘bloom’ free. I can’t help but think the bloom is wild yeast after seeing a few failed brews where the fermentation bucket was not sanitized correctly. Usually though, the beer has too much off-taste to enjoy and must be discarded, unlike pickling. Thanks again~!
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@MikeRoBrew You’re right, there’s no homebrewing-like sanitation, and that’s because keeping the veggies under the brine already assures that the lactobacillus will triumph–other yeasts and molds need oxygen to grow. Sanitizing wouldn’t hurt if you use the airlock system to protect your pickles, though. Once you start the pickles, I’m curious if and how quickly CO2 will force all the oxygen out of the jar. And will the airlock actually bubble? I’ll have to give it a try. I have been using the Harsch fermenting crock, which also makes an airlock, to make sauerkraut and so far I have had no mold.
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