joy of fermenting string beans

my home made sour beans - day 2 of fermenting process

This summer I took a fermentation class offered by Common Ground Farm. From this class, I have learned how to preserve vegetables naturally and brew kombucha. The pickled string beans were sour but they were very good in Spicy Ground Pork with Sour String Beans (哨子江豆）which was one of our favorite Sichuan dish. You can find the recipe to cook this dish from Tiny Urban Kitchen.

To ferment string beans:

• two tablespoons of sea salt
• some Sichuan peppercorn (1 teaspoon or more)
• one or two hot chili
• a handful of string beans

1. Gently rinse the string beans. If the string beans are from your own garden, you can skip this washing step to preserve the good bacteria that reside on the beans.

2. Add the salt to a jar and add some water. Shake salt and water to dissolve salt.

3. Add Sichuan peppercorn, chili, and string beans to the jar.

4. Fill water to the top of jar and try to immerse the beans in water to minimize string beans exposure to air.

5. If you have airlock, cap the jar with it. If you don't have it, simply cover the jar with a layer of paper towel and tighten it with a rubber band.

6. Let the jar sit in room temperature for about two weeks.

7. After two weeks, open up the jar and taste for the beans. If they are sour, they are ready. If there is a layer of white furry stuff on top, simply just remove the layer from the jar and the rest of beans are edible. (This is the scary part but I was taught in the class that it was perfectly fine to eat the beans. I have eaten a few times homemade pickled beans and so far we are still doing well.) If the beans are not yet sour, let them ferment for a bit longer.

8. After the fermentation is completed, you can cap the jar and store the jar in cooler space (basement or garage) until you are ready to cook it.