Chinese Pickled Laba Garlic with Emerals Green Color – Sweet Sour Marinate Garlic

Pickling laba garlic is a popular festival custom in northern China.

Why is it called Laba garlic?

Laba is the abbreviation of the eighth day of December in the Lunar calendar.  Garlic is pickled on this day.

Does green color means it is going bad?

The pickled la garlic has an emerald green color. Don’t worry if they go bad, it’s just a chemical reaction between the garlic and vinegar, and the right conditions.

Why pickle garlic on Laba Day?

1. After Laba is the Spring Festival. people eat more meat and fish during this period, it can be used to relieve greasy. The prepared Laba garlic also can be paired with noodles, dumplings, and steamed buns, which is very refreshing.
2. Some people say that garlic will turn green only when it is pickled on Laba Day. In fact, this is just a legend. Given the right conditions, it turns green.

– Ingredients

• Purple Garlic, the reason why purple skin garlic is chosen is that the garlic cloves of purple skin garlic are relatively small, which shortens the marinating time, and it has a crunchy texture.
• Vinegar, you can choose rice vinegar or Chiniang vinegar.
• Sugar, choose fine white granulated sugar, or other easily soluble white sugar.

-Instructions

1. Boiling the jar for a few minutes, let it stand, upside, and drain.

2. Peel all the garlic then add into the jar.

3. Add 1 tsp sugar, pour in the vinegar.

4. Cover the lid and store at room temperature around 10 degrees for 5 days, then transfer to refrigerator for  2 days.

5. 7 days later, Laba garlic is ready.