In Korea, summer is the harvest season for garlic. Every summer, I like to make a lot of pickled garlic, it is almost on my dinning table every day...
Garlic is widely used around the world for its pungent flavor as a seasoning
or condiment.
The garlic plant's
bulb is the most
commonly used part of the plant. With the exception of the single clove types,
garlic bulbs are normally divided into numerous fleshy sections called
cloves.
Garlic cloves are used for consumption (raw or cooked) or for medicinal
purposes. They have a characteristic pungent, spicy
flavor that mellows and sweetens considerably with
cooking.
Other parts of the garlic plant are also edible. The
leaves and
flowers (
bulbils) on the head (
spathe) are sometimes eaten. They are
milder in flavor than the bulbs, and are most
often consumed while immature and still tender. Immature garlic is sometimes
pulled, rather like a scallion, and sold as "green garlic"
]
When green garlic is allowed to grow past the "scallion" stage, but not
permitted to fully mature, it may produce a garlic "round", a bulb like a
boiling onion, but not separated into cloves like a mature bulb. Additionally, the
immature flower stalks (
scapes) of the hardneck and elephant types are
sometimes marketed for uses similar to
asparagus in
stir-fries.
Inedible or rarely eaten parts of the garlic plant include the "skin" and
root cluster. The papery, protective layers of "skin" over various parts of the
plant are generally discarded during preparation for most culinary uses, though
in
Korea immature whole heads are
sometimes prepared with the tender skins intact. The root cluster attached to the
basal plate
of the bulb is the only part not typically considered palatable in any form.
Garlic is a fundamental component in many or most dishes of various regions,
including eastern Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, northern
Africa,
southern Europe, and parts of
South and Central America. The flavour varies in intensity and aroma with the
different cooking methods. It is often paired with
onion,
tomato, or
ginger. The parchment-like skin is much
like the skin of an onion, and is typically removed before using in raw or
cooked form. An alternative is to cut the top off the bulb, coat the cloves by
dribbling
olive oil (or other
oil-based seasoning) over them, and roast them in an
oven. Garlic softens and can be extracted from the cloves
by squeezing the (root) end of the bulb, or individually by squeezing one end of
the clove. In Korea, heads of garlic are fermented at high temperature; the
resulting product, called
black garlic, is sweet and syrupy, and is
now being sold in the
United
States,
United
Kingdom and
Australia.
Garlic may be applied to breads to create a variety of classic dishes, such
as
garlic bread, garlic
toast,
bruschetta, crostini and
canapé.
Oils can be flavored with garlic cloves. These infused oils are used to
season all categories of
vegetables, meats, breads and
pasta.
In some cuisines, the young bulbs are pickled for three to six weeks in a
mixture of sugar, salt, and spices. In eastern Europe, the shoots are pickled
and eaten as an appetizer.
Immature scapes are tender and edible. They are also known as "garlic
spears", "stems", or "tops". Scapes generally have a milder taste than the
cloves. They are often used in stir frying or braised like asparagus. Garlic
leaves are a popular vegetable in many parts of Asia. The leaves are cut,
cleaned, and then stir-fried with eggs, meat, or vegetables.
Mixing garlic with egg yolks and olive oil produces
aioli. Garlic, oil, and a chunky base produce
skordalia. Blending garlic,
almond, oil, and soaked bread produces
ajoblanco.
Garlic powder has a different taste from fresh garlic. If used as a
substitute for fresh garlic, 1/8 teaspoon of garlic powder is equivalent to one
clove of garlic.
(sources: wikipedia)
Ingredients:
garlic 1 kg
vinegar 1 Cup
sugar 1 cup
water 2 cups
salt 2 Tsp
Method:
1. Peel the skin of the garlic, wash and drain.
2. Boil the vinegar, sugar, water and salt together, set aside, till cool.
3. Put the garlic in a bottle container, pour in the boiled water, make sure that the water must cover over the surface of the garlic.
4. Close the lid of the container and store it in the refrigerator for about 5 days.
5. Pour out the water from the container and let the garlic to remain in the container.
6. Boil the water again, set aside, till cool.
7. Pour the boiled water in the container again and store in the refrigerator again.
8. Repeat this process for one more time. After that, keep it in storage for at least one month. For me, I like to keep it for at least 3 to 4 months, the longer the period, the taste will be more better and delicious.
