With a plethora of delicious onions available at local farmers markets right now, we decided it was a great time to ferment some. Onions are members of the genus, Allium, in the lily family of flowering plants that also includes garlic, shallots, leeks, and chives.
Besides tasting great and adding delicious flavor to your meals, onions are very beneficial for your health. They contain vitamin C that helps regulate the immune system and aid in collagen production, vitamin B that boosts metabolism and nerve function, and potassium that is essential to many bodily functions. Onions are also full of different antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial compounds.
In short, they contain a powerhouse of health benefits and, when fermented, they become even better for you through the creation of probiotics, enzymes, and healthy acids. So, if you find yourself with some extra time on your hands and some onions laying around, give this ferment a try.
Here is a synopsis of how ours went…
We took a few beautiful yellow onions,
sliced them thinly, and weighed them out.
To the 500g of onions, we added 2.5% of Himalayan salt by weight (12.5g) and 1.5 teaspoons of freshly ground peppercorns. To calculate how many grams of salt we needed, we took our total weight and multiplied that by .025 (500 x .025 = 12.5). We then mixed them up by hand and let them rest for 20 minutes.
At this point we could’ve put them in the jar and let the microbes have their way with them. However, since we are still finding rosehips out in the wild,
we decided to give these a twist. We split the batch in half and added 2 tablespoons of freshly cut rose hips. If you’ve seen our previous post or checked out our blog, you know that the removal of the seeds and little hairs that are major irritants, is a must before utilizing them. This is a process, so throw some music on while you complete this tedious task. We decided to chop the rose hips further and added them to one bowl of the onions.
We thought for the other half of sliced, peppered onions, why not double down, so we added some chopped scallion tops.
About 2 tablespoons worth. We used a stainless steel “sauerkraut pounder” to squish the onions down and cover them in their own juices.
We added a glass fermentation weight to keep them submerged in the 16oz. jar and added fermentation lids to keep the oxygen out and allow the CO2 produced by the act of fermentation to escape.
Now all we have to do is patiently wait a couple weeks to let the microbes work their magic.
Anywhere from 2-8 weeks from now we will be enjoying these lovely onions on anything and everything, our personal favorites being scrambled eggs, carnitas tacos, and cobb salad.
Disclaimer: The information presented herein by Mindscape Fermentations is intended for educational purposes only. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, cure, treat or prevent disease.