How To Get On Board The TikTok Pickled Garlic Trend

TikTok has captivated foodies all over the world with a simple snack that's bursting with flavor and uses just four ingredients. Consisting of storebought pickled garlic cloves, thyme, sriracha sauce, and chili powder, spicy pickled garlic is the latest food trend sweeping the social media platform known for its fun and irreverent takes on recipes. As for spicy pickled garlic, numerous videos — more than 321 million, to be exact — have been posted that highlight this potent treat, which can be enjoyed on its own or used to elevate a multitude of recipes. 

For instance, rice makes an excellent base for spicy pickled garlic, as it soaks up all the fantastic flavors of the concoction. The mild flavor of rice can also temper the spiciness of your pickled dish, which tends to be most intense when eaten on its own. Of course, there are many other ways to eat this pickled snack. 

In one of the best-known spicy pickled garlic recipes on the social media platform, a TikToker shows how you can make your own spicy pickled snack at home. The poster begins by adding a generous portion of Sriracha to a jar of pickled garlic, followed by a dash of thyme and a sprinkling of chili powder for some added heat. Once she combines the ingredients, the user gives the jar a vigorous shake to mix everything up; then, it's ready for snacking.

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♬ original sound – TiktokTrend – TiktokTrend

Another TikTok video presents a similar spicy pickled garlic recipe and compares the flavor to kimchi. A culturally important Korean recipe, kimchi typically includes a mixture of cabbage (as well as other veggies), fish sauce, chili pepper, garlic, and other ingredients, depending on the recipe. Thanks to fermentation, kimchi imparts a delightfully sour flavor in the vein of sauerkraut, but it can also be quite spicy. Like kimchi, spicy pickled garlic can also be made from scratch if you want to flex your culinary muscles. 

Storebought pickled garlic is relatively easy to come by; it can be found in plenty of grocery stores. If you're feeling particularly adventurous, you can also experiment with pickling your own garlic and adding spicy ingredients later. The first step is to procure fresh garlic and peel the cloves to prepare them for pickling. To peel garlic cloves quickly, deposit them into a bowl and cover them with a similarly sized bowl turned upside down. With a grip on both bowls, shake the garlic inside until all the peels come loose.

Once peeled, deposit the cloves into a jar and start working on your brining solution, which consists of water, vinegar, and seasonings like peppercorns, salt, sugar, coriander, cumin, and mustard seeds. Place ingredients into a pan and cook on medium heat. Stir the brining solution to avoid burning, and pull the pan off the heat once it begins to boil. Add the brine to the jar with the garlic cloves, but don't fill it completely. After placing a lid on the jar, allow the contents to cool down before transferring it to the refrigerator. Let the cloves marinate in the brine for a week, then add your spices and Sriracha.