Homemade grated horseradish: hot, white, in small jars for Easter
Horseradish from a shop jar is mild and greyish, because it was grated weeks ago. Homemade, grated today, is white and so hot that tears come while you grate it, and that is exactly why you make it. Root, lemon, a little vinegar, sugar and salt, no cooking. For white sausage, eggs, ham and beetroot relish. Four small jars that keep three months in the fridge.
Your own work in that: 30 min.
- Root soaking 60 min
- Peeling and grating 15 min
- Seasoning 5 min
- Jars 10 min
Step by step
0 / 6 doneSoak the root
Scrub the soil off the roots with a brush and cover with cold water for 60 minutes. A hydrated root peels and grates more easily; a dry, limp one gives fibrous shreds instead of a fluffy mass.
Ingredients: 4 pcs horseradish root · 1 pcs lemon, juice · 2 tbsp spirit vinegar, 10 % · 100 ml boiled water, cold · 2 tsp sugar · 1 tsp salt
TipChoose roots as thick as a thumb and hard; soft, wrinkled ones are old and less hot. Don't throw away the thin ends, just grate them on a finer side.
An hour in cold waterPeel
Peel the roots with a vegetable peeler, like a carrot, and cut into 3 cm chunks. Cut away any browned spots. At this stage horseradish hardly smells: the heat is released only when it is broken up.
With a peeler, like a carrotGrate, protecting your eyes
Best in a food processor or jug blender, pulsing to a fine, fluffy mass; the lid holds the fumes in. A fine box grater works too, but put on swimming goggles and open a window: this is not a joke, grated horseradish releases mustard oil that stings the eyes far harder than onion. Grate with your face turned away.
TipThe heat of horseradish forms within minutes of grating, as an enzyme released from the damaged cells breaks down their compounds, and then starts to fade. That is why the acid goes in quickly: lemon and vinegar stop the reaction and fix the heat at whatever level it has reached when they are added.
Food processor, lid on, window openSeason at once
Add the lemon juice, vinegar, sugar, salt and enough cold boiled water to the grated horseradish straight away to make it moist and thick but not swimming: usually 80–100 ml. Stir. Want it milder? Add the acid straight after grating. Hotter? Wait 2–3 minutes before adding the acid, but no longer, or it starts to turn grey and bitter.
TipWithout acid, horseradish in a jar turns grey and loses its heat within two days. Lemon keeps it white, vinegar keeps it, sugar tames the bitterness without sweetening.
Acid within minutes: it stays white and hotFill the jars
Fill small scalded jars (100–150 ml) with the horseradish, pressing with a teaspoon so no air remains, to 1 cm from the rim. Screw on tightly. It keeps 3 months in the fridge without pasteurising; every opening costs a little heat, which is why the jars are small. For longer, freeze it in small portions (up to six months), at the cost of some heat. Do not store it in the pantry: horseradish root is low-acid, this amount of acid does not give a tested acidity, and home pasteurising does not destroy botulism spores.
Small jars, pressed down, into the fridgeServe
With white sausage and eggs at Easter: a spoon of horseradish as it is, or stirred with sour cream and a pinch of sugar for those who don't want tears at the table. With ham, roasts, on a curd cheese sandwich. Half a jar with grated beetroot makes an instant beetroot and horseradish relish.
Ingredients: 100 g sour cream, 18 %
Milder with sour cream, hot on its own
Before you start
Beetroot and horseradish relish
Two cooked, grated beetroots to 4 spoons of grated horseradish, a spoon of lemon juice, a pinch of salt and sugar: a pink relish for ham, ready in 5 minutes, keeps 2 weeks in the fridge.
Horseradish with cream and apple
4 spoons of horseradish, 4 of sour cream, half a grated tart apple: a mild sauce for fish and boiled beef.
It turned grey or bitter
Acid added too late, or the root too old. A teaspoon of lemon juice and a pinch of sugar will soften the bitterness, but neither the colour nor the lost heat will come back — next time add the acid sooner.