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    Home » Wild Herbs and Spices

    Ramp Scrap Vinegar

    Published: Apr 11, 2020 Modified: Feb 14, 2023 Author: Alan Bergo

    Jump to Recipe

    Bright pink and smelling of woodsy garlic, ramp scrap vinegar is one of the first things I ever made with ramps. Back then, when the ramps would come in the restaurant when I worked at Heartland in St. Paul, the line cooks would fight over who got to use them on the menu first.

    Ramp stem vinegar recipe

    When we'd clean them, typically the bulbs would be separated out for pickling, a few for cooking fresh, and the leaves used for various things.

    One year, even though the ramps weren't going to my station, I helped out with the cleaning process, with the idea of bogarting some for my own projects.

    I remember noticing the red stems of the ramps some still attached to the green leaves, and thinking that I should save some to make mignonette, a sort of infused vinegar with shallots and black peppercorns--a classic condiment for oysters. No one will miss the little red part of the stem, right? Right.

    Ramp stem trim used for vinegar
    Ramp scrap and stem trim. The red hue is where the magic is.

    I took my tax of red stem from all the leaves we processed in a day, packed them in a jug of vinegar and waited.

    After a few hours, I was pumped to see that the red color had bled into the vinegar and turned it a beautiful shade of red/pink. After a few days, the smell had completely taken over the vinegar, and I started cooking with it in simple dishes where I'd like the flavor of ramps.

    Coleslaw was one of the first things we did with it, and it's excellent, after that, we added crushed black peppercorns and herbs and used it as a condiment for fried fish--ramp stem scrap and all--like a sort of rustic, broken sauce for dipping and spooning over instead of lemon juice.

    Eventually, when I was running my own restaurants, I made ramp vinegar by the gallon, and we used it as the base of our house-pickled ramps, which is another good idea.

    Use Ideas 

    There's tons' of things you can do with your ramp scrap vinegar, but the best things will be simple ones. Here's a few ideas.

    • Use it to season something simple like cabbage slaw, coleslaw, etc.
    • Add some hot chilis like habaneros or hot garden peppers and use it to season wilted greens, a la southern hot pepper vinegar.
    • Add some coarsely crushed black pepper and it turns into mignonette--perfect for seasoning fried fish and oysters.
    • Reduce it with a good pinch of sugar, honey, or maple syrup for a tart, rampy glaze.
    • Use the ramp vinegar to season chicken stock, then add some unsalted butter and reduce until syrupy for a tart pan sauce, preferably with some of the ramps in it.
    • Use the ramp-infused vinegar to pickle ramps, for some ramp-on-ramp action.
    Ramp stem vinegar recipe
    Ramp stem vinegar recipe
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    4 from 12 votes

    Ramp Scrap Vinegar

    Bright pink vinegar infused with the flavor of wild leeks. makes about 1.25 cups. It starts out hot pink but the color will mellow with time.
    Prep Time5 minutes mins
    Infusing time7 days d
    Total Time7 days d 5 minutes mins
    Course: Snack
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: Pickled Ramps, Ramps
    Servings: 15 Servings
    Calories: 5kcal
    Author: Alan Bergo

    Equipment

    • 1 Pint mason jar

    Ingredients

    • 3 oz roughly 1 cup ramp trim, preferably from the middle stem
    • 10 oz white vinegar 1 ¼ cups
    • 2 oz living apple cider vinegar ¼ cup

    Instructions

    • Wash and dry the ramp stems, then slice thinly and combine in a jar with the vinegar.
    • Store in a dark place away from light for a week to mellow before using.

    Notes

    Why are there two types of vinegar in the recipe? 
    I use a small amount of apple cider vinegar as an inoculant, which means the finished vinegar can be used to naturally ferment other vinegars. Using mostly white vinegar is only to show off the pink color. If you don't care about the color, use all apple cider vinegar. 
    Once the ramp vinegar is infused, you can use it just like regular vinegar, but it's best in simple things without too many other ingredients. Coleslaw and vegetable salads are a good example--as well as the mignonette you can use with raw oysters and fish. 
    Ramp Mignonette
    Same as above, but use the following proportions: 
    • ½ cup diced ramps
    • 1 ¼ cups red wine vinegar
    • 1 tablespoon coarse ground pepper
    • ¼ teaspoon salt
    Ramp Hot Pepper Vinegar 
    Add a sliced habanero or your favorite chilis to the basic recipe. Use to season wilted greens. 

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1.5tablespoon | Calories: 5kcal | Carbohydrates: 0.4g | Protein: 0.1g | Fat: 0.01g | Saturated Fat: 0.002g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.004g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.001g | Sodium: 1mg | Potassium: 16mg | Fiber: 0.1g | Sugar: 0.1g | Vitamin A: 57IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 5mg | Iron: 0.1mg

    More 

    Ramps: Harvesting, Sustainability, Cooking and Recipes 

    « Middle Eastern Confit (Qawarma)
    Ramp Ketchup »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Erin Kathleen Bristow

      April 20, 2024 at 10:23 am

      5 stars
      I'm making this recipe right now! I do wonder - in a week, once the vinegar is nice and rampy, should I strain the vinegar into a clean jar and discard the spent ramps?

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        April 22, 2024 at 10:00 am

        The ramps are pickled so you can add them to sauces like chimichurri.

        Reply
    4 from 12 votes (11 ratings without comment)

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