LACto-fermented beans

By Josephine Marchandise, a freelance chef and fermenter.

INGREDIENTS

- Leftover beans soaked or cooked

- Salt

- Herbs and spices

  • H

  • Herbs and

METHOD

  1. Weigh out 3% of the weight of your leftover in salt. Dissolve that salt in filtered water. Place the beans in a jar with some herbs/spices and then pour over the brine, ensuring the beans are submerged (use a weight if necessary).

  2. Leave at room temp, away from direct sunlight, for 4-8 days. Shake and burp your jar daily! Once the beans reach a taste that you like, remove the weight, seal the jar properly and place in the fridge where it will keep for several months. 


    Try making a bean chilli sauce with your fermented beans! If you like the original Lao Gan Ma Chili Oil with Black Beans, this is a great one to make.

    ‘I lightly fry the fermented beans in oil for 20 mins to cook off any moisture, then cool for a few mins and add dried chilies, and an infused spiced oil’.


Note: If you have fermented soaked beans you will need to cook these before eating. The fermentation process for cooked beans will likely take MAX 5 days, if you leave them longer they may get mushy.