Fermented or pickled carrots make a healthy and delicious snack. They’re crispy, with a pleasant tang, and pair beautifully with many dishes. They go especially well with a variety of dips — my favorite combination is with hummus. These bright orange sticks also add a pop of color to any table.
Ingredients (per 0.5 L / pint jar):
- Carrots – 2 medium
- Cabbage leaves – 2
- Water – 4 cups (1 liter)
- Ginger root – a ¾-inch piece (about 2 cm)
- Allspice berries – 3
- Bay leaf – 1
- Carnation – 3
- Coriander – 1/2 tsp
- Mustard seed – 1/2 tsp
- Sea salt or rock salt – 3 tablespoons (about 50 g)
Cooking process
1.First, prepare the brine. Pour 1 liter of water (4 cups) into a saucepan and bring it to a boil. Add the salt and all the spices. Stir, then remove from heat and let it cool completely. Your spiced brine is ready.
2. Use pre-washed and peeled carrots.
3. Cut the carrots into sticks.
4. Make the sticks 2–3 cm shorter than the height of the jar you’ll use for fermenting. This ensures the carrots fit comfortably under the brine and lid without protruding.
5. Next, slice the peeled ginger root into thin rounds.
6. Place the ginger slices at the bottom of the jar, then pack the carrot sticks tightly on top. Leave some space at the top of the jar—enough so that the brine can fully cover the carrots by 2–3 cm.
7. Next, place a cabbage leaf over the carrots and pour in the brine, making sure the carrots are completely submerged. If needed, you can use a rolled cabbage leaf as a weight to keep the carrots under the brine.
8. Seal the jar tightly with a lid and let the carrots ferment at room temperature for 2 weeks. The room temperature should not exceed 25 °C, ideally staying below 22 °C. Keep the jar out of direct sunlight—placing it in a dark spot or covering it with a kitchen towel works well. Make sure the carrots remain fully submerged in the brine throughout the fermentation process.
Open the lid slightly every day to release any accumulated carbon dioxide.
9. After two weeks, transfer the jar of fermented carrots to the refrigerator and let them mature for an additional two weeks.
Once fermentation is complete, store the carrots in the refrigerator.
Fermentation is one of the best ways to preserve vegetables and fruits while enhancing their nutritional benefits. For example, fermented carrots retain nutritional value comparable to fresh ones and are rich in vitamins, minerals, and probiotics.
Helpful tip: Do not discard the brine after eating the carrots. It can be reused for your next batch. By adding brine already enriched with lactic acid bacteria, you can speed up the fermentation process.
Fermented Lemons Recipe https://takajaeda.com/en/recipes-en/preserved-lemons/
Pickled garlic recipe https://takajaeda.com/en/recipes-en/pickled-garlic/