Fermented Vegetables: Red Onions.
This is yet another delicious lacto-ferment in our collection.
The first one that we made, we opened it after a year. Those one year old onions were super delicious, and they were also gone within one week.
That motivated us to make more. And we had no problem with that as this is probably one of the easiest lacto-ferment that we make. Just three ingredients: onions, salt, and a bit of garlic.
For those who are not that familiar with lacto-fermentation, here's a quote from Juicing for Health online article.
"What Is Lacto-Fermentation?
The “lacto” portion of the term refers to a specific species of bacteria, namely Lactobacillus. Various strains of these bacteria are present on the surface of all plants, and are also common for the human’s gastrointestinal tracts, mouths and vaginas. Lactobacillus bacteria is named such because it was first discovered in milk ferments. These bacteria use lactose or other sugars and convert them into lactic acid. However, lacto-fermentation does not necessarily need to involve dairy products.
Lactic acid is a natural preservative that inhibits the growth of harmful bacteria. Beyond preservation advantages, lacto-fermentation has many other health benefits:
1. Improve Digestion And Enhance Nutrients Absorption
One of the primary benefits of consuming more fermented foods is that the nutrients are much more easily absorbed for healing. They help to improve digestion and heals the digestive tract. By supplying your gut with healthy bacteria, your digestive process is more equipped to destroy or remove harmful bacteria. These bacteria also help your body to absorb nutrients from the food that you are eating.
2. Boost Your Immune System
Your gut is your biggest protection against illness. As such, adding the healthy bacteria found in lacto-fermented foods to your diet can help strengthen your immune system. The spread of healthy bacteria in your gut can help control immune cells and prevent certain autoimmune reactions, such as inflammation.
3. Improve Brain Functions
As with most bodily processes, your brain is connected to your digestive and immune system. For an example of this, think about the last time you were sick with the cold or flu and how fuzzy your head felt. The vagus nerve is responsible for this connection.
The vagus nerve is one of 12 cranial nerves that transfers information from your intestinal nervous system to your central nervous system located in your brain. Maintaining a healthy amount of good bacteria and limiting unhealthy bacteria can keep this line of communication between the two systems open, preventing and improving cognitive issues.
4. Contain Powerful Antioxidants
Lacto-fermented foods contain a variety of powerful antioxidants that can attack free radicals known to cause cancer. These antioxidants can also fight inflammation and strengthen your immune system. This may help you deal with eczema, arthritis, and other conditions that are impacted by inflammation or an autoimmune response.
5. Lose Weight by Eating More Sauerkraut
Lacto-fermented foods help regulate various hormonal functions. This helps you control your food cravings and suppress your appetite. Studies show that people with a high intake of healthy probiotics tend to have a lower risk for obesity."
Another reason why we make this particular ferment is the fact that red onions are quite high in those two substances: Quercetin (a very powerful flavonoid with antioxidant & anti-inflammatory properties) and Anthocyanin (a polyphenol antioxidant).
Let's have a look how we make it!
Being absolutely delicious also helps.
So, we start with those beauties:
And next, our favorite machine comes out!
In order for the onions to release their juices, we add unrefined Atlantic salt.
We leave our onions overnight with just salt and pureed garlic to let the juices come out.
The next day it looks like this.
Some of the juice is already visible on the bottom of the jars, and the onions are wilted a bit.
Next, we add some of our filtered water and the onions are ready for the fermentation process that will take a minimum of 3 months.
When they ferment even longer, they get even better.
Here's a look at color change of our onions. The jars are 10 months apart.
When the onions are ready, its time to transfer them into our retail jars.
And that's what you'll find in our fridge, waiting for you. They are absolutely delicious and they don't have that bite that the raw (not fermented) onions have. So no onion breath here.
Our Onions are available in two different sizes: 410 gr and 175 gr.
Ingredients: Red Onions, Unrefined Sea Salt and Garlic
To purchase / zum Kaufen klicke bitte unten.
Disclaimer: All medical information in this post is merely information & not advise. If you need medical advice, please consult your doctor or other appropriate medical professional.