If you have kombucha that goes “too far” and becomes too sour to drink, you don’t have to throw it away! I keep some in a jar in the fridge and substitute it for vinegar for culinary uses*. And with “raw” recipes like this, you’ll get the probiotic benefits of the live kombucha cultures.

Ingredients

• 1 can (1.5-2 oz) anchovy fillets in olive oil
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 2 Tablespoon overripe kombucha, apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
• 1 lemon
• ¼ Cup chopped fresh basil
• 1 Cup extra virgin olive oil
• Sea salt and cracked black pepper

Instructions

1. Juice lemon and grate ¼ teaspoon lemon zest with a grater/microplane.
2. Add all ingredients except olive oil into a wide-mouth pint-size mason jar. Include the oil in which the anchovies are packed.
3. Blend with an immersion blender. Slowly add olive oil while blending to create an emulsion.
4. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Fermentation

1. None! This is ready to eat as soon as you make it. Store in lidded jar in refrigerator.

Serving suggestion:

*I’ve also tried using kombucha as a substitute for distilled white vinegar (e.g. for household cleaning). This doesn’t work! The scoby continues to grow when stored at room temperature, and will just make a bigger mess (think sticky scoby bits everywhere)!

In the spirit of buying locally and sustainably, next time I will try this recipe using local Pacific sardines!

How about you, Fermenters? What do YOU do with overripe kombucha?