Hello everyone, I am a member of the Wanjia Denghuangzhang family who loves food and life. I am happy to answer this question:

Sweet and sour garlic has a crisp texture, fresh, sweet and juicy taste, and is very delicious. It’s tempting. In a few days, fresh garlic will be on sale in the market, and fresh garlic is the best ingredient for pickled sugar garlic. It is crisp, tender, juicy, and slightly sweet, with an old-fashioned taste. Garlic does not have a "soft" feeling, so it is not an exaggeration to call it a "fresh" thing.

Old garlic is a spicy food, with a strong pungent taste. It can easily cause anger when eaten. People rarely eat it raw, but this kind of fresh garlic is different. It is eaten just every year. When it comes on the market, people here often like to buy it in handfuls and take it home. First, chop a few cloves, use a garlic mortar (a stone tool for pounding ingredients), mash it, and add soy sauce, vinegar, and salt. , sesame sauce, when simply mixed, it is the best condiment for dipping steamed buns, noodles, and cold dishes, or simply eating a few slices raw without feeling the overpowering spiciness at all, but it is very appetizing.

Candied garlic pickled with fresh garlic not only reduces the pungent smell of garlic, but also softens the spicy and hot nature of garlic. Even people with yin deficiency and fire exuberance can eat some. Especially when you eat meat with a lot of fat, if you add a few cloves of sugar and garlic to clear your mouth, it will not only relieve greasiness, but also promote digestion and absorption, which is really good. Fresh garlic will be available in a few days. Let’s learn how to pickle “sweet and sour garlic” first. Is it better to use balsamic vinegar or white vinegar when pickling? Come and take a look at the following production points. It is easy to master and loosen the processing, making life more fun.

(1) Selection of fresh garlic: Most of our pickled sugar garlic in the north use white-skinned fresh garlic. Although the outside of the skin of fresh garlic is lavender, when the skin is peeled off, it is white. The inner skin of the garlic often has a faint purple ring at the bottom, or a little bit of purple. Fresh garlic like this, pickled sugar garlic has the best taste. As the saying goes, "too white is too tender, too purple" "Too old" is exactly the right way to describe the fresh garlic just mentioned that doesn't look old and is not too tender.

(2) Soak the garlic in salt water in advance and then pickle it. This is an old traditional method, but it is actually very effective: peel off the skin of the fresh garlic head first, do not "take it off" ", one or two layers of inner skin should be left, so that the garlic cloves cannot be seen clearly with the naked eye. At this time, use a knife to remove the roots. Especially when removing the roots, be sure to operate carefully and leave a small part of the base. , don't peel off the skin at the bottom of the garlic, just remove the dirty part at the root, and then cut off the long stem at the top, leaving 1 to 2 centimeters.

Tear off the white and tender garlic heads and put them into a large basin. The large basin contains salt water that has been stirred in advance (the salt water concentration is about 5%, that is, 5 grams of salt is added to 100 grams of water. You can adjust the concentration according to the amount of water that covers the garlic), and then marinate the fresh garlic for 24 hours. If possible, you can change the salt water in the middle. The purpose of soaking in salt water like this is, firstly, to sterilize and remove contamination, secondly, to soak away the pungent smell of garlic, thirdly, to add some base flavor to the garlic, and fourthly, it is also very important, in order to remove the spicy smell inside the fresh garlic. The internal tissue structure is tighter, which allows the moisture of fresh garlic to be "killed" out. The pickled sugar garlic will be easier to taste and the taste will be crisper.

(3) Drain the water from the garlic soaked in salt water, dry the water and then pickle: place the garlic head with the root upward and the head downward, and place it in a container that can control the moisture. Place it in a ventilated, dry and cool place to dry out its moisture. The salt content of soaked garlic forms a protective film on the surface of the garlic, making it less susceptible to oxidation. Dried garlic will not go bad easily when pickled again. Put the dried garlic heads into a water-free and oil-free sealed container for later use, either a jar or a glass jar.

(4) Mixing of the sauce: Most of the sugared garlic we pickle here is white sugar. The sugared garlic produced in this way is white and translucent. Some places like to use brown sugar for pickling, and some Some places also like to add soy sauce, which makes the color appear dark red. This depends on personal preference. I think the white and translucent sugar garlic makes people look clean, refreshing and more appetizing. For the vinegar needed for pickling here, I usually use rice vinegar (balsamic vinegar can also be used) and white vinegar. The ratio is 1:1. This is because white vinegar has a strong sourness but not enough fragrance. Rice vinegar is a brewing vinegar. It has enough fragrance but not enough sourness, so combining the two will have a better effect. More importantly, when used together, the color will look better without being too dark.

(5) The ratio of sugar and vinegar: the ratio is 2:3 or 3:2. If you like desserts, the ratio is 3 parts sugar and 2 parts vinegar; if you like sour points, the ratio is 2 parts. The ratio of 3 parts sugar to 3 parts vinegar can be adjusted according to your taste preferences. Usually the ratio of pickled sugar garlic is 6 taels of vinegar and 4 taels of sugar for 1 pound of garlic. If the amount of water does not cover the garlic, add an appropriate amount of water, bring the seasoning to a boil, let it cool and then pour it into the garlic. Take two kilograms of garlic as an example. To prepare the sauce: put 1 kilogram and 2 taels of vinegar (mix 6 taels of white vinegar and 6 taels of rice vinegar) into a small basin, add 8 taels of white sugar, and stir a few more times to dissolve the seasoning. Open for backup. This process must also ensure that the utensils used throughout the process are water-free and oil-free to prevent the food from deteriorating. The best way is what I just mentioned (because if the moisture is not enough in the ingredients, the ingredients will be exposed and easily deteriorate), use an appropriate amount of water, add the seasonings, let it cool and set aside.

(6) Pour the mixed sauce into a container with garlic. The water should cover the garlic, and the container should not be too full. Pour in a little high-strength white wine to prevent deterioration, and then Cover and store in a sealed container. You can start eating it after twenty days. The above is the production key points that need to be mastered when pickling sweet and sour garlic. It is also my answer to the question "Is it better to use balsamic vinegar or white vinegar to make sweet and sour garlic?". Through the sharing and introduction of the entire pickling process, I think Everyone has learned the whole process, as well as several issues to pay attention to. Once you have mastered it, when the new garlic comes on the market, you can learn to make it for your family.