Tuesday, May 19, 2009

First Batch of Kimchi from Wild Fermentation

It easy! And tastes good so far. It's still fermenting on my counter. Want to know how?

-Cabbage (1 pound)
-Hot peppers (3-4) they can be dried or fresh
- Chopped Garlic (3-4 cloves)
-Grated Ginger (3 tablespoons)
Carrot
Daikon radish
Chopped Leek or green onion

-Chop and then salt the carrot, radish and cabbage in a bowl for a few hours or over night. 4 cups of water mixed with 4 tablespoons salt. Have something to push the vegetables down to make sure they're submerged (like a plate or bowl)
-Taste the veggies to make sure they're salty, if they're too salty you can rinse them. Save the brine.
-Mix together ginger, garlic, onion and hot pepper. Pound into a paste (I did not get it that pasty, seems fine)
-Mix this with veggies.  
-Get a clean glass jar, pack in veggie mixture so tight, the liquid left in the vegetables comes out. Add more brine if needed, until the veggies are totally covered. You can either then cover  with another jar to keep the veggies submerged or check the kimchi each day, pushing it down with clean fingers and cover, but not seal, with a lid. Leave out for a week or so. Check it once and a while. When it's ripe put it in the fridge. 

Hope you have more restraint than me and don't end up eating a lot of your kimchi before it's done fermenting.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Fermentation Fetishist



I got this book in the mail the other day. Wow! It is very revelatory even upon a brief browsing. S E Katz supplies recipes for every fermented thing under the sun, from injera to Nepalese rice wine (chang), kombucha, yogurt, tempeh, miso and krauts of all kinds. He also believe in spirit vegetables. Radish for him, I think cabbage or celery for me. 
I will write a full report once I've read more. For now I am vowing to at least try making a batch of kimchi soon.