Recently, there’s been a trend towards eating black garlic. People buy a bag of garlic and put it in a rice cooker to ferment for a few days or half a month. When they open the lid again, the white garlic bulbs have turned a glossy, black hue. People who don’t know think they forgot to clean the rice cooker, resulting in dark, shiny garlic. Little do they know, they’ve actually grown “black gold” ingredients.

What are the benefits of black garlic?

1. The garlic flavor is gone—instead, there’s a sweet caramel flavor.

Garlic becomes glossy black because it’s stored at 60-70 degrees Celsius and a specific humidity for 2-4 weeks. The fructose and amino acids in the garlic combine through the Mena reaction, producing a black pigment. This turns the white garlic to black, giving it a slightly sweet caramel flavor.

Compared to raw garlic, when mashed raw garlic is eaten, the garlic cells rupture and release alliinase, which breaks down alliinic acid into propylene sulfenamide, which then synthesizes into allicin, a bactericidal substance. This is one of the reasons why raw garlic is highly valued for its nutritional value. However, alliinic acid is easily destroyed by heat, so when made into black garlic, the allicin associated with the rich garlic flavor is naturally lost.

2. Special Nutrients: SAC and Polyphenols

The unique feature of black garlic after high temperature storage is its increased content of S-allylcysteine! This more stable structure than allicin effectively reduces vitamin B1 loss and promotes normal energy metabolism. Furthermore, a study indicates that heating raw garlic to 70°C also increases its polyphenol content.

The antioxidant capacity is approximately ten times higher, reducing the production of free radicals and effectively lowering LDL cholesterol, helping to prevent cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure. Allicin, combined with vitamin B1, also promotes intestinal motility, aiding bowel movements, and preventing constipation.

Black Garlic Storage: Vacuum-packed garlic is best, and any leftovers can be refrigerated.

Black garlic is now available in supermarkets and online retailers. It’s recommended to choose uncut, vacuum-packed garlic, and avoid buying too much at once. If you don’t finish the garlic after opening it, remember to freeze it to prevent mold. Don’t worry about it sprouting in the cold. Just take it out of the freezer and eat it.

Homemade Black Garlic Recipe

A head of black garlic costs over NT$100 in the market, and even over NT$300 for export to Japan. Despite this, black garlic is often sold out. If you don’t want to fight over the prices, you can try making it at home; the process is not as difficult as you might think.

[Step 1] Buy Garlic

Visually inspect the garlic to see if its outer covering is intact. Smell it to see if it has a damp, moldy odor. If it looks intact and smells fragrant, you can buy it with confidence.

[Step 2] Cleaning the Garlic

To prevent mold, garlic should not be washed with water. It’s recommended to select garlic that’s not heavily soiled or sandy. Simply clean it with a toothbrush, or use it to clean it carefully. Finally, gently peel off any dirt and old skin from the outer layer, and trim off the stem.

[Step 3] Sterilize the Utensils by Blanching and Drying

To prevent the iron surface of the heating pot from conducting heat too well, potentially cooking the garlic before it turns black, it’s recommended to place a bamboo basket, or a porcelain plate and cloth, between the pot and the garlic. Sushi mats, commonly sold at general stores, work well. To be on the safe side, sterilize the utensils by blanching them in hot water before preparing them, then wipe them dry.

[Step 4] Place in rice cooker and press the keep warm button.

Place a bamboo basket or cloth in a traditional rice cooker (Editor’s Note: Traditional rice cookers don’t have ventilation and are not suitable for cooking black garlic. High-end rice cookers with moisture and heat recovery functions are also not suitable). No water or other preparation is required. Simply cover the pot, press the keep warm button, and check back in two weeks.

[Step 5] Storage

After two weeks of constant temperature storage, the raw garlic will gradually mature and become a pure, translucent black. Three to four days of air-drying and baking will remove excess moisture, reducing the chance of bacterial contamination and growth. If you can’t finish it all, you can simply freeze it.

[Notes]

The rice cooker maintains a temperature of around 60-70°C. It consumes about 1 kWh of electricity per day for 24 hours, and costs about NT$35 for two weeks. Despite prolonged use, the heat remains much lower than when cooking rice, so there’s no need to worry about the risk.