How to Make Authentic Laba Garlic

The authentic Laba Garlic is made with simple ingredients. In Chinese, Garlic has the same pronunciation with “calculate”. As in Chinese tradition, year end is normally the time to ask for payment of a debt or a loan. Give Garlic to someone is a polite way to pass the hint. Later on, it becomes a tradition to have this green garlic at the year end and new years time due to its unique colour, taste, and health benefits.

The Authentic Pickled Green Garlic – Laba Garlic

In northern China, people pickle garlic to make it taste, and last longer. This pickled green green garlic is healthy, taste, and adds freshness to dishes, especially when pair with meat, such as meat dumplings. It is an absolute necessary side dish at Chinese New Year. People usually prepare the pickling process before the new year on La Ba Festival, which is on December 8 on the Chinese Luna Calendar.

Garlics adds tons of health benefits to our diet, and it is used worldwide. Garlic is rich in vitamin B, C, fibre, and manganese. It reduces the bacteria in the body, helps burning fat and improves metabolism as well. In some regions, people eat  garlic on an empty stomach, and some people eats garlic every date to improve their health. The recommended dose for garlic is 2-3 cloves per day.

What are the Best Ways to Eat Garlic?

Most garlics has a strong taste, which is kind of spicy. To reduce the unpleasant taste, garlics are used for roast, pickle, stir fry, and stews. Elephant garlic is the mildest garlic, Marbled Purple Stripes garlic are the sweetest, Rocambole and Hardneck garlic has the best flavour.

Serving: 8-10
Prep Time: 2 hrs
Cooking Time: 48 hrs (2 days)
Total Time: 2 days

Ingredients:

Purple Stripes Garlic: 5-6 head
White Vinegar: 1 cup
Small Glass Jar: 1 ( 12oz or 350ml)

Instruction:

1. Peel all garlic cloves, then rinse through in cold water.
2. Dry all the garlic cloves, then cut the bottom end off. This is to reduce the pickling time.
3. After that, place all the clean and dried garlic in a small glass jar, the denser the better.
4. Pour the vinegar into the jar to cover all the garlic cloves, then tight seal the jar. The ideal is to fill the jar fully, and leave no air space.

Tips:

• White with purple stripes garlic works the best.
• The fresher the garlic is, the better result are.
• In order to make the garlic cloves denser in the jar, shake the jar a bit after fill in the garlic cloves. Continue the process until the jar is full.
• Place it by the window where is cooler, and make sure the place has some sunshine.

Why Laba Garlic Does not Turn Green? Why My Laba Garlic not Turning Green?

Due to the weather condition, the pickling time can be from 2 days to 30 days. In the old time, Laba Garlic is pickled in the winter, therefore, the pickling time can be very due the tempurture. As my past experience, the are 3 main reasons if the garlics are not turning green:

1. The garlics are not fresh enough. For example, some of the cloves are already start sprouting, and shrivel. It might still turn half green after pickling 30 days.
2. The pickling spot is not cool enough. The best spot is the window sill or window ledge. If you are located in a warmer zone, you may want to try the refrigerator.
3. Another key point – Sunshine, if the you are trying the refrigerator method, make sure to take the jar out and leave it at a sunny place during the daytime for at least 2-3 hours per day.

Wish you all enjoy this experiment. Follow us on Youtube to see more.

For more Laba Garlic recipe, please see here.