Background
Experimenting with a quick lacto-ferment of sugar snap peas. The goal is to achieve a light lactic acidity while preserving the crisp texture of the peas. Because snap peas have a high natural sugar content and the ambient temperature is warm, the fermentation is expected to progress rapidly.
To maximize the pea flavor, the brine liquid is made from the juice of less tender snap peas rather than water. The starch from the juiced peas was allowed to settle out before the liquid was added to prevent a chalky texture or off-fermentation.
The snap peas were sourced from Rob at Sun One Organic.
Recipe
Ingredients
- 750 g snap peas
- ~815 g snap pea juice (extracted from older/tougher peas)
- A few sprigs of dill
- ~31–32 g salt (calculated at 2% of the total weight of the peas and juice)
Method
- Juice the less tender snap peas to yield approximately 815 g of juice.
- Let the pea juice sit undisturbed to allow the starch to settle to the bottom of the vessel.
- Carefully decant the clear pea juice into a clean container, discarding the settled starch at the bottom.
- Pack the 750 g of prime snap peas and the dill sprigs into the fermentation vessel.
- Dissolve the salt into the decanted pea juice to create a 2% brine, then pour the liquid over the peas, ensuring they are fully submerged.
- Ferment at room temperature, checking daily.
Notes and Observations
Monday, June 22, 2026 Batch started. Anticipating a short fermentation window of about 3 days to prevent the peas from becoming soggy.
June 24–25, 2026 (Days 2–3) The fermentation progressed quickly. After only 2 to 3 days, the peas have developed a pleasant, mild acidity. They retain an excellent, crisp texture and look very clean and attractive when sliced. Overall, using the starch-depleted pea juice as the brine base works exceptionally well for this preparation.