Laba garlic is a vinegar-preserved garlic from Chinese cuisine. Its refined color is green or blue and its taste is sour and slightly spicy. Because it is usually made in the 8th day of the 12th month of the Chinese Lunar calendar, the Laba Festival, it was named Laba garlic. [1] In general, green and vinegary garlic is called Laba garlic. [2]
Laba vinegar is the vinegar used to pickle the Laba garlic. The custom of making Laba garlic is more prevalent in northern China. Laba garlic and vinegar with dumplings are traditional foods for the Spring Festival in China. Laba garlic alone could also be a Chinese New Year dish. [3]
The specific history of Laba garlic is unknown; One popular saying is that "garlic" and "count" are homonyms in Chinese. Businessmen usually count their financial income and expenditure of the year in lunar December eighth, and creditors also collect debts on this day. Because this day is close to China's traditional Spring Festival, the firms tapu direct debt collecting in people's homes. So the gift of vinegar pickled garlic indicated debt collection. [4]
Prepare a container. Skin and wash the garlic. Put garlic and vinegar into the container and seal it. Sugar and salt may be added according to personal preference. Place it in a low-temperature environment. Storage time is not fixed, usually about 20 days, until the color is green. [4] [5]
In some areas and families, there is a method of making "Orthodox" Laba garlic, using specific purple garlic and rice vinegar in the eighth day of lunar December.
The abundant sulfur compounds in garlic are responsible. These are normally kept separate from an enzyme (alliinase) that can act on them. However, acidity damages the cells of the garlic, allowing the enzyme to cleave the sulfur-containing compound alliin to release reactive thiosulfinates. These then react with each other and with amino acids found naturally within cells to make pyrroles, clusters of carbon-nitrogen rings. [6] [7] These rings can be linked together into polypyrrole molecules. Ring structures absorb light and thus appear colored. The exact color depends on the number of pyrrole rings and the amino acids involved. When four of the pyrrole rings have been joined together, the resulting structure is very like phycobilin, a compound used by algae and some bacteria to capture light for photosynthesis. In laba a mixture of compounds are present, resulting in the green-blue colour. The pyrrole pigments are safe to eat. [8] [9] [10]
The shallot is a cultivar group of the onion. Until 2010, the shallot was classified as a separate species, Allium ascalonicum. The taxon was synonymized with Allium cepa in 2010, as the difference was too small to justify a separate species.
Garlic is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus Allium. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Welsh onion, and Chinese onion. It is native to Central Asia, South Asia and northeastern Iran. It has long been used as a seasoning and culinary ingredient worldwide, with a history of several thousand years of human consumption and use, including also use as a traditional medicine. It was known to ancient Egyptians and other ancient cultures for which its consumption has had a significant culinary cultural impact, especially across the Mediterranean region and across parts of Asia. It is produced globally but the largest producer is China which produced 73% of the world's supply of garlic in 2021. There are two subspecies and hundreds of varieties of garlic.
An onion, also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion which was classified as a separate species until 2011. The onion's close relatives include garlic, scallion, leek, and chives.
Pyrrole is a heterocyclic, aromatic, organic compound, a five-membered ring with the formula C4H4NH. It is a colorless volatile liquid that darkens readily upon exposure to air. Substituted derivatives are also called pyrroles, e.g., N-methylpyrrole, C4H4NCH3. Porphobilinogen, a trisubstituted pyrrole, is the biosynthetic precursor to many natural products such as heme.
Allicin is an organosulfur compound obtained from garlic. When fresh garlic is chopped or crushed, the enzyme alliinase converts alliin into allicin, which is responsible for the aroma of fresh garlic. Allicin is unstable and quickly changes into a series of other sulfur-containing compounds such as diallyl disulfide. Allicin is an antifeedant, i.e. the defense mechanism against attacks by pests on the garlic plant.
Elephant garlic is a plant belonging to the onion genus. It has a tall, solid, flowering stalk, flat leaves. The flavor is milder than garlic and can be eaten raw in salads, roasted, or sauteed, but is generally not a substitute for conventional garlic in cooking. It is sometimes confused with solo garlic.
Makgeolli, sometimes anglicized to makkoli, is a Korean alcoholic drink. It is a milky, off-white, and lightly sparkling rice wine that has a slight viscosity, and tastes slightly sweet, tangy, bitter, and astringent. Chalky sediment gives it a cloudy appearance. As a low proof drink of six to nine percent alcohol by volume, it is often considered a "communal beverage" rather than hard liquor.
Pickling is the process of preserving or extending the shelf life of food by either anaerobic fermentation in brine or immersion in vinegar. The pickling procedure typically affects the food's texture and flavor. The resulting food is called a pickle, or, if named, the name is prefaced with the word "pickled". Foods that are pickled include vegetables, fruits, mushrooms, meats, fish, dairy and eggs.
Biological pigments, also known simply as pigments or biochromes, are substances produced by living organisms that have a color resulting from selective color absorption. Biological pigments include plant pigments and flower pigments. Many biological structures, such as skin, eyes, feathers, fur and hair contain pigments such as melanin in specialized cells called chromatophores. In some species, pigments accrue over very long periods during an individual's lifespan.
Allium chinense is an edible species of Allium, native to China, and cultivated in many other countries. Its close relatives include the onion, scallion, leek, chive, and garlic.
Bilins, bilanes or bile pigments are biological pigments formed in many organisms as a metabolic product of certain porphyrins. Bilin was named as a bile pigment of mammals, but can also be found in lower vertebrates, invertebrates, as well as red algae, green plants and cyanobacteria. Bilins can range in color from red, orange, yellow or brown to blue or green.
syn-Propanethial S-oxide (or (Z)-propanethial S-oxide), a member of a class of organosulfur compounds known as thiocarbonyl S-oxides (formerly "sulfines"), is a volatile liquid that acts as a lachrymatory agent (triggers tearing and stinging on contact with the eyes). The chemical is released from onions, Allium cepa, as they are sliced. The release is due to the breaking open of the onion cells and their releasing enzymes called alliinases, which then break down amino acid sulfoxides, generating sulfenic acids. A specific sulfenic acid, 1-propenesulfenic acid, formed when onions are cut, is rapidly rearranged by a second enzyme, called the lachrymatory factor synthase or LFS, giving syn-propanethial S-oxide. Vapors from this volatile liquid induces tearing.
In enzymology, an alliin lyase is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction
Phenolic compounds—natural phenol and polyphenols—occur naturally in wine. These include a large group of several hundred chemical compounds that affect the taste, color and mouthfeel of wine. These compounds include phenolic acids, stilbenoids, flavonols, dihydroflavonols, anthocyanins, flavanol monomers (catechins) and flavanol polymers (proanthocyanidins). This large group of natural phenols can be broadly separated into two categories, flavonoids and non-flavonoids. Flavonoids include the anthocyanins and tannins which contribute to the color and mouthfeel of the wine. The non-flavonoids include the stilbenoids such as resveratrol and phenolic acids such as benzoic, caffeic and cinnamic acids.
Laba Festival is a traditional Chinese holiday celebrated on the eighth day of the month of La, the twelfth month of the Chinese calendar. It is the beginning of the Chinese New Year period. It is customary on this day to eat Laba congee.
Garlic breath is halitosis resulting from the consumption of garlic.
A species of the genus of Penicillium which causes Blue Mold of Garlic on Allium sativum L. The genus name is derived from the Latin root penicillum, meaning "painter's brush", and refers to the chains of conidia this fungus produces that resemble a broom.
In chemistry, a selenosulfide refers to distinct classes of inorganic and organic compounds containing sulfur and selenium. The organic derivatives contain Se-S bonds, whereas the inorganic derivatives are more variable.