Think, Eat, Be Healthy

Fermented Mustard Pickle Spears

fermented mustard pickle spears

Fermented mustard pickle spears with whole mustard seeds plus a little onion and garlic make great sour pickles.

About this fermented mustard pickle spears recipe

Fermented mustard pickle spears is a variation on the garlic dill pickle chips recipe previously posted here. They are sour because of the acetic acid produced during fermentation. Being about the same exposed surface area as large cucumber slices, these spears are ready in 2-3 days if a starter culture is used. The mustard flavor in the finished pickles is quite mild.

Fermented foods bring a lot of variety to any healthy whole food diet. Almost all are sour, but can also have spicy hot, salty, or a number of other flavor overtones depending on the particular recipe. There are many health benefits attributed to eating fermented vegetables.

Pickling cucumbers

Pickling cucumbers are smaller and drier than most cucumbers meant to be eaten raw.

Ingredients for fermented mustard pickle spears

16-18 pickling cucumbers, 5-8-inches long                                                     1/2 cup fermenting liquid from previous vegetables

3 tablespoons whole mustard seed                                                                   1 small yellow onion, 3/4-inch diced

6 garlic cloves, cut in half

Brine: 2 quarts filtered water + 7 tablespoons sea salt, brought just to a boil and stirred well to dissolve all salt, cooled

pickle spears

Cutting the pickle spears before fermenting.

Preparation of the fermented mustard pickle spears

1. Place the water and sea salt in a pan and heat until it just starts to boil. Stir well to dissolve all of the salt. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

2. Trim 1/4-inch from the ends of each cucumber and cut into four pieces lengthwise, making four spears.

3. Place the cucumber spears, onion, garlic and mustard seeds into the fermenting container.

4. Add the starter liquid from a previous fermentation and the cooled brine.

5. Weight the pickles so that all the vegetables are submerged under the liquid and cover loosely.

6. Allow to ferment at room temperature for two days. Do a taste test and give more time if needed. The pickles should be sour with a slight mustard flavor and retain a crisp crunch when bitten.

7. When happy with the flavor and texture of the pickles, transfer them to jars and refrigerate. The pickles should keep refrigerated for several months. They will continue to ferment very slowly, so I like to sort them by size at this stage and eat the smaller spears first.

Whole mustard seeds, yellow onion and garlic cloves

Whole mustard seeds, yellow onion and garlic cloves.

Notes on fermented mustard pickle spears

Fermented mustard pickle spears can be made without a starter culture, but I have found them to be more chancy than cabbage and you will have to allow extra time(a few more days) for the fermentation to get started. I have never had a batch of sauerkraut or kimchi or other pickled cabbage of any kind fail. My record with cucumbers and other vegetables is only about two out of three successes when not using a starter culture. Every batch of pickles using a starter culture has worked well and is fast. I have read that liquid drained from yogurt or kefir will work as a starter but have never tried it. I like to use liquid from sauerkraut or kimchi that I know is still alive and active.

Fermentation is a great way to extend the shelf life of hard vegetables that are plentiful. The nutrition of the vegetables is also enhanced. The living bacterial cultures in unpasteurized fermented foods bolster our native gut microbes, aiding digestion and strengthening the immune system. The sourness of fermented foods mutes cravings for sweet flavors.