La Ba Suan (Emerald Green Pickled Garlic)
This green color with zero coloring!? Magic garlic to accompany dumplings
Description
A traditional pickled garlic prepared on the 8th day of the 12th lunar month (Laba Festival). Soaking garlic in rice vinegar and exposing it to the cold causes a natural chemical reaction, turning the cloves a brilliant, jewel-like emerald green.
Restaurants serving La Ba Suan (Emerald Green Pickled Garlic)
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On this site you can check dictionary details and, later, places to buy or eat related items.
The Recipe section below is a general reference, not a recipe from the listed shops.
Recipe
Ingredients
- Raw garlic
- Rice vinegar(or Black vinegar)
- Rock sugar
Instructions
- [Authentic Recipe]
- Carefully peel fresh purple (or white) garlic cloves one by one. Slice off the hard root tip without damaging the clove (this allows vinegar to penetrate). NEVER wash with water (prevents mold).
- Pack tightly into a sterilized, bone-dry glass jar.
- Flood the jar with Chinese 'Rice Vinegar' (Mi Cu) or black vinegar until completely submerged. Add a pinch of rock sugar.
- Seal tightly and leave it in a place with 'extreme temperature drops' (like a cold winter windowsill) for weeks.
- Amino acids and vinegar react in the cold, slowly turning the cloves a stunning, translucent emerald green. The harsh spice mellows into a fruity, sweet-sour crunch.
Learn more Spice, substitutes, tips
Key spices
Mellow acidity of rice vinegar、Garlic flavor
Substitutes at Japanese supermarkets
(Can make at home - Japanese rice vinegar works)
Pairing
Boiled Dumplings / Zha Jiang Mian
Trivia
[Trivia] Japanese first-timers often panic, shouting 'It's moldy!' or 'Food coloring!', but it's a 100% natural chemical reaction. The stomach-burning harshness of raw garlic vanishes, allowing you to crunch them like pickles.
Eating tips & etiquette
[Unique Eating] During Lunar New Year, place the green garlic on a plate. Take a bite of a dumpling, then take a 'crunch' of the garlic. Furthermore, the vinegar it was soaked in (Laba Vinegar) is poured and used as the ultimate dumpling dipping sauce.
Allergen
None