#i suppose to be honest actually the line is just sweet or savoury

[sodrippy]

"breakfast for dinner" and "brinner" are two different things. do you understand

[wooju-lee-blog]

Black garlic (흑마늘; heukmaneul) is a type of treated garlic produced through a fermenting process. When the sugars and amino acids present in the garlic undergo fermentation, these elements produce melanoidin—a dark-coloured substance that is responsible for the aptly titled black garlic. Tracing its origins is quite the challenge; a quick Google search offers nothing but hardly-credible information and a myriad of Internet forum hypothesis. It may or may not be a Korean product, according to Star Chefs; it was supposedly “fermented” in clay pots in the warm summer sun. Other sources claim that it hailed from Japan or even Egypt. Less likely but better documented, Korean inventor Scott Kim claims to have developed black garlic in 2004 as the next big superfood.

Truth be told, I had very little awareness of black garlic’s existence—at least until it was the focal plot point for an episode of the animated sitcom Bob’s Burgers. Little did I know, black garlic has become a staple ingredient in a variety of professional American kitchens since it was manufactured by Kim under Black Garlic Inc. Four years forward, the company began shipping products to stateside chefs. "It's deep. The flavours are so layered, and they linger," says Chef Evan Hanczor of Brooklyn's Parish Hall. "It has notes of dark caramel, chocolate, a little bitterness, a little sweetness, and umami, plus that je ne sais quoi."

Companies that mass-produce and distribute black garlic focus on a long, careful process of keeping garlic heated at a constant temperature of about 60°C (140°F) for a few weeks—to even a month! It’s not particularly hard per se, but it’s no easy task either, and its retail price reflects its tedious process. But because of its widespread popularity in South Korea, many DIY lovers (such as yours truly) have put it on themselves to make it at the comforts of home—using only a rice cooker. Precisely, literally anyone can make it. It only takes a bit of patience. And Febreeze. And a strong will. Also a strong mentality because of the smell...which is so bad, it’s heroic. 

Ingredients

10 whole garlic bulbs

Equipment

Rice cooker with a “Keep Warm” function. If the rice cooker you’re using doesn’t have this, it’s pretty much useless in this case. Keep in mind that the treatment process will leave your rice cooker with a persistent garlic stench, so I suggest buying an older one from Value Village, like I did.

Lots of Febreeze, scented candles, fancy soaps out in the open etc.

Method

Place the rice cooker in an area with good ventilation—preferably somewhere that’s not your kitchen as the smell will permeate any enclosed area. And it’s not even a subtle smell, either. Because I live alone, I had the wonderful privilege of using the garage at my friends’ humble abode at Spadina Road (shout out to Aaron for helping me avoid a potential smelly chaos).

Peel the outer skin of the garlic so that you can see the separation of the garlic cloves. Make sure you do not break the garlic apart!

Place the whole garlic bulbs in one layer in a rice cooker. 

Close the lid and press the “Keep Warm” button. Leave it as is for two weeks (approximately 14 days, obviously).

After the allotted time has passed, turn off the rice cooker, take out the garlic bulbs and let them rest until they come to room temperature. Multiple sources claim that it’s best to just leave it as it is for an extra two to three weeks, but because of time constraints, I disregarded that altogether.

After the garlic bulbs have cooled down, start peeling them—this will be easy to do as the cloves are mostly separated from the skin at this point due to the treatment process. 

Place the cloves on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover with another parchment and air-dry in a cool area for a week. Keep cool.

Because I was expecting the entire process to take at least three weeks, I started the treatment process around June 25th. It surprised me how easy it was to make something touted to be so expensive; there weren't really any intricate steps involved with the bulbs once it was placed in the rice cooker. It was simply placing it in the contraption, turning it on, and setting it aside until the process was complete. 

I received constant (mostly nocturnal) updates on the severity of the smell. According to my friend Aaron, the smell didn’t really reach any of the rooms. But the entire garage was permeated with a sharp garlic scent for weeks, even after the rice cooker was cleaned and removed from the area.

The end results were as expected, all in its jet-black and stinky glory. Its flavour is rather hard to describe; there‘s some sweetness to it, some savouriness with a touch of earthy tone: a bit like a cross between caramelized onion and balsamic vinegar. To be honest, it’s not good by any means. Like, I was actually kind of upset for a good 5 minutes because it just was not worth all that effort. Would it be better if I incorporated it in a recipe? Absolutely. But consuming it in its raw form seems a bit, I don’t know, unbearable. However, I can see myself taking it like a pill, solely for its supposed nutritional benefits. 

Each garlic clove has a delectably soft, gelatine-like texture to it, almost to the point of being sticky. The only food I can think of with a remotely similar texture to it is a traditional East Asian dessert called 羊羹 (yōkan) or 양갱 (yanggaeng). Its mouthfeel can only be described as a slightly hard gummy bear; some pieces were incredibly soft, while some just felt mushy. I’m not entirely too sure why the texture varied so much, but something tells me I should have left it as is for an extra week or so. 

An article published on Munchies introduces the black garlic and the myriads of ways it can be used in a recipe. Chef Kevin Meehan of Kali, his newly opened restaurant in Los Angeles, is more or less an advocator of the specialty. He incorporates it in three out of the 11 dishes on his menu, which includes a beet tartare, a wheatberry risotto (which sounds incredible), and a beef dish with burnt onion jam. He even talks of experimenting with black garlic ice cream, which, honestly...should not happen.

Black garlic, Meehan declares, is "the ultimate form of umami."

It’s still surreal to me that you can naturally (well, mostly natural) modify a raw food and give it an added nutritional boost—and the fact that you can do it in the comfort of your own home is just an added bonus. So there really is no reason to be gulled into these faux-health “foodie” trends; the only difference between paying more than you should when you can make it at home is being fooled by clever (not-so-clever) marketing. 

My consensus on black garlic? Well, aside from just eating a few cloves like it’s some sort of absurdist snack, I have yet to try out a recipe that incorporates it. My primary interest in black garlic was actually more for its medicinal value than anything. I do want to incorporate a more health-oriented approach to my cooking. And black garlic’s benefits of reducing inflammation and osteoarthritis, boosting immune function, and improving cardiovascular health and circulation, all the while tasting decent (it’s inherently an acquired taste) is an A+ for me.

Next up: fruit hunt! I’ll definitely be making something peach-related as peaches are probably my favourite food. Like, my fervour for peaches can be summed up by this single, nonsensical scenario: I would probably get by just fine on a deserted island...if that deserted island also had an abundance of peach trees.

P.S. Here’s a clip from that Bob’s Burgers episode I mentioned before.