Garlic Processing Methods: How to Make Dehydrated Garlic Flakes and Sweet-and-Sour Pickled Garlic

1. Dehydrated garlic flakes: Select fresh garlic bulbs that are well matured, free of injury, free of pests and diseases, white in color, and large in size. After removing the stem ends, separating the cloves, and peeling, slice them while keeping them wet, then rinse them in a citric acid aqueous solution to reduce the activity of garlic enzymes. Note that rinsing must be completed within 24 hours after slicing, so that the garlic flakes do not produce colored pigments due to oxidation, which would affect the color of the finished product. Place the rinsed garlic flakes in a temperature-controlled dehydrator and control the temperature in three stages: keep the temperature at around 60°C in the early stage, increase the temperature appropriately in the middle stage, and keep it above 70°C in the later stage, but it must not exceed 78°C, so that the garlic flakes do not scorch and affect the flavor and color. When the moisture content of the garlic flakes drops to about 5%, the finished product is obtained.

2. Sweet-and-sour pickled garlic: Peel off two layers of outer skin from the garlic bulbs, put them in clean water and soak for 1 week, changing the water and cleaning the vat every day during soaking to reduce the pungent taste of the garlic; then remove them and dry them in the sun until the outer skin has wrinkles, then put them into the vat; for every 50 kg of garlic bulbs, prepare 3 to 5 kg of sugar, 25 kg of aged vinegar, 20 kg of soy sauce, and 200 g of Sichuan pepper. The ingredients should be boiled into a liquid before being put into the vat. Seal the vat for 25 to 30 days and it is ready.