Ferment Your Spicy Mustard Now and Enjoy It All Winter Long
I don’t remember being a mustard fiend, but as I often say, closeness is everything. Next to hot grainy homemade mustard, I find myself reaching for it at least once a day. Sandwiches, of course; salad dressings , of course. But almost every time I add oil and lemon, I now add mustard. Mustard is the perfect breadcrumbs glue for just about anything, but especially fish and chicken. It rarely burns and adds a nice base of flavor and texture. Heck, it even improves scrambled eggs .
Making your own mustard is actually as easy as mixing mustard seeds with a stabilizer (to stop fermentation and maintain a safe pH), usually vinegar. Hence the taste – I love sugar, honey and horseradish. Combine these elements to your personal taste, and the result will please you.
However, I implore you to consider leveling and fermenting this mustard. Fermented mustard softens and combines flavors, adding an umami pungency that is hard to capture. In the end, it’s worth taking the time to get your food processor out and make a batch while the weather is favorable for fermentation. Make it now and use it all winter in soups, stews and risottos. If you’ve never made a fermented mustard before, consider the following questions before you start making the perfect seasoning for your taste.
How grainy do you want it?
The mustard you make yourself can be as grainy as you like. We start with whole mustard seeds, but you need to break down some of them to start fermentation, and how much you break down is entirely up to you. Keep in mind that due to the size of the seeds, this is a lengthy process. As a rule, I find a happy medium, and so do you. However, if you really prefer mild mustard, replace some of the mustard seeds with mustard powder .
How spicy do you want?
Mustard itself is not as spicy, it becomes spicy when combined with other ingredients. Ready horseradish, for example, can be found in many mustards. Since fresh horseradish loses its pungency once you cut it, it is not recommended to start with the horseradish root. The preservatives in cooked horseradish are mysterious and secretive, but they manage to help the horseradish retain its lightning. Obviously, hot peppers are another source of heat, and you can choose which peppers and how much you want to use. Garlic can also add a layer of heat. You can try when you get used to it.
What if I don’t have saline?
Typically, when fermenting, you start with a salt brine with a salt content of 2-3%. You can also use serum. Think of it as a starter for your own fermentation, as a starter. If you want to use whey, you can buy kefir, buttermilk or yogurt and strain the watery part. The watery part is whey. You can also call a fermenting friend. It’s pickle season, after all, and you probably know someone who has some lacto-fermented brine (made from salt water, not vinegar) that you could use.
Get the gear you need to make mustard:
You can also prepare fresh brine. Fermentation will take longer since you’re starting from scratch, but it will still work. You can use the brine calculator to figure out how much salt you need for the amount of water you’re working with. If you are making a brine, replace all the water and brine in the recipe (i.e. three cups) with this new mixture. Boil three cups of distilled water with 14.4 g of non-iodized salt, let it cool completely, mix with honey or maple syrup and let it ferment at room temperature with a screw cap on for a few days. Once it starts bubbling, it’s fermented and ready to eat, and you’re good to go with the recipe.
Fermented spicy mustard
Ingredients:
- 3 cups mustard seeds (Any combination of colors will work, it’s up to you. I use yellow, brown, and black in equal amounts. Keep in mind, black and brown mustard seeds look the same.)
- 1/2 gallon jar with fermentation lid
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 cup real whey or brine from a previous fermentation
- 2 cups distilled or filtered water
- 1 glass of vinegar
- ½ cup honey or maple syrup
Optional:
- Hot peppers, as hot as you like
- 2-4 tablespoons of prepared horseradish (not fresh, in a jar from the store)
- Garlic
In a food processor, combine all dry ingredients – seeds, peppers, horseradish, garlic, turmeric, etc. In another bowl, combine all the brine and honey / maple syrup (if you have not already) and mix well. Add enough liquid to the food processor to start the mixture and beat for a second. Keep pulsing until you reach the desired graininess, realizing that it will become looser as you add it to the rest of the brine. Add more brine if you need to get things moving.
When you’re happy with the consistency, add this mixture to a half liter container and pour the rest of the brine on top. Mix everything well with a long spoon. Cover with a fermentation lid and place in a dark place at a temperature of 60-80℉.
The next day, you will see that the ingredients in the jar have separated and then started to ferment. Fermentation will be presented in one of two ways: either you will see a slight bubbling, or you will wake up one morning and the mustard will shoot from the top of the fermenter. Try to catch it up to this point.
How to save it
You want it to roam for a day or two and this is controlled to some extent by heat. The colder it is, the less it ferments. The hotter it is, the more it ferments. So, if you have really active fermentation, move it to a cooler place. Keep tasting the mustard, which should still be bitter because the mustard seeds haven’t aged at all. It takes time for them to mature. But you should still be able to feel the main notes that affect the mustard, spiciness and sweetness.
When you’re happy with the starter, add the vinegar and stir. At this point, you can even mix again and the mustard will become more uniform. At this point, you can put the mustard in the refrigerator and it should last almost indefinitely. Because of the temperature, it will stop fermenting. I generally prefer to leave it for about three months before digging into it, at which point you can continue to modify it by adding salt, honey, or other flavorings, but no fermentation lid is needed.
Enjoy homemade mustard all over and watch it get better with age. If you make it now, it will make a real gift for the holidays in small four ounce jars .