Lacto Fermented Mango Habanero Salsa

Ingredients:

3 mangos or 1 lb frozen

6 habanero peppers

1 red onion

15 cherub tomatoes

3 cloves garlic

2 percent salt (procedure explained below)

Tools needed:

Sharp knife (I love these knives from santoku knives)

Cutting board

Large mixing bowl

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Kitchen scale that reads in grams

Vacuum sealer and bag

How to make it:

If using frozen mangos, make sure to defrost 24 hours before making the salsa.

Cut up the mango if using fresh into medium rough dice. Place into a large mixing bowl.

Remove stem from habaneros, cut in half to inspect the seeds and inside of the pepper. Remove the seeds and discard any pepper pieces that are rotten or going bad. Rough chop the peppers. Place into a large mixing bowl.

Cut the red onion into medium rough dice. Place into a large mixing bowl.

Give the garlic a light smash on the cutting board, cut off root end and rough chop the garlic. Place into a large mixing bowl.

Place an empty mixing bowl onto the scale, tare (zero) scale. Add the ingredients to that mixing bowl and record that weight. For an example, I got total weight of 798 g.

Multiply that weight by 2% to get the amount of fine sea salt needed. For example: 798 x 2% = 15.96 g. If your scale doesn’t read in decimal points, round to the nearest whole number. In this example, you will go with 16 g for the amount of salt.

Place small bowl on the scale, tare the scale and add the 16 g salt to the bowl.

Add the salt to the ingredients and toss gently. Make sure to evenly coat the ingredients with the salt.

Get you vacuum bag ready of the ingredients. Make sure to have enough head room so that the bag can be opened and resealed once or twice.

I like to double seal each end as a safety precaution.

Add the salted ingredients to the bag, clean the opening with a clean kitchen towel and vacuum seal the bag. Double seal this end as well.

Place the bag on a baking sheet and find a place in your pantry or countertop making sure it is away from direct sunlight. Let ferment at room temperature at a temperature range of 68-75 degrees F for best results. This will ferment for 1 week, maybe 2 if you want the flavor to be more funky. The bag will start to inflate after day 3 or 4. This is a good sign that fermentation is taking place. If the bag inflates where there is no give to the bag, carefully cut just below the seal on the top of the bag to release the pressure. Reseal and keep fermenting of the 7 days.

After 7 days, open the bag and you can check the pH of the liquid that has developed. I look for a pH of less than 4.6 for this salsa to be considered safe to consume. This checked out at 3.7 pH when I checked it on day 7 of fermentation. Taste the salsa as well to see where the flavor is at. Keep fermenting if desired for an addition 7 days. You will need to reopen and reseal the bag at least once.

This is best when consumed within 2 days of fermenting. If it is allowed to ferment for too long, I found that I gives a “fizzy” feeling on the palate, which I find undesirable. If you won’t consume it that quickly, add the salsa to a gallon ziplock bag and freeze for 24 hours. This will halt the fermentation process. This of course, will kill the lactobacillus which gives lacto fermented foods the good probiotics. Defrost in the refrigerator and it is now ready to eat!

This salsa will stay good for 1 week once defrosted in the refrigerator. Great on grilled white fish, on pulled pork and as a side for chips. Sweet and spicy perfectly paired with a nice tang to it.

Enjoy!

Logan