Lacto-Fermented Green Beans
 
 
Ingredients
  • 1 litre (1 Quart size approx) Jar with Flip Top lid/lock (e.g. Fido Jar)
  • 400-500gm fresh green beans
  • 1 litre clean filtered water (boiled and cooled if unsure)
  • 1 tsp to 3 tbsp natural sea salt
  • 1 sachet Body Ecology Veggie Culture Starter optional and ½ tsp organic sugar
  • 2 cabbage outer leaves or cut 2 wedges of cabbage (all the cabbages seem to have the outer leaves removed over here so I have been using wedges of cabbage, they end up fermented too so I also eat them with the vegetables)
Instructions
  1. Take the culture starter sachet out of the fridge to allow it to come to room temperature
  2. Clean the jar and all utensils (knife, board) with hot water and vinegar and sit on a dish rack or clean tea towel to air dry
  3. Wash the beans and sit on a clean tea towel to dry
  4. In a small glass, add some of the water and dissolve halve a tsp of organic sugar (if using the Culture starter, skip if not)
  5. Empty the sachet into the glass to allow the bacteria to wake up and start feeding on the sugar
  6. Top the beans (and tail if you prefer, I didn't bother)
  7. Lay your jar on the side and start stacking the green beans on top of each other until the jar is quite full and the beans won't fall over once you stand the jars upright
  8. Once the jar is upright, keep pushing more and more beans in until you can't squeeze another bean in. They need to be really tight so they don't float up in the brine
  9. Try and squeeze another bean in ;)
  10. Make a brine by dissolving 1 tsp salt with the water, then add the culture starter mixture (salt is used to inhibit the growth of bad bacteria to give the good bacteria a good start to do their thing. Using a culture starter allows you to use less salt, if you prefer softer veggies you can reduce the salt further, increase the salt for more crunch)
  11. Pour the brine over the green beans until just covered
  12. Roll up each cabbage leaf (or place the cabbage wedges) and place on top of the vegetables to keep them under the brine
  13. Keep the jar on the counter out of the sun or in a cupboard for 5-7 days, they should keep for well over 6 months
  14. Once opened, store them in the fridge
  15. Don't forget to always use clean utensils - no fingers! this will keep your jar lasting a lot longer once it is opened.
Recipe by Intuitive Food Design at https://intuitivefooddesign.com/food_recipe/lacto-fermented-green-beans/