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Fermented Foods

Gloomtastic!

Fermented foods have been around for centuries. It's a brilliant way of preserving food that are also full of probiotics so very good for your digestion.

In addition to beer, cider and wine, which we'll leave to their dedicated forum, food that can be fermented includes:

cultured milk and yoghurt
tempeh
miso
kimchi
sauerkraut
fermented sausage
sourdough

I'll start off the thread with a few posts from another thread. Please feel free to post your recipes or ask questions here.

the beer revolu wrote: »

Pig cheeks slow cooked with soy, garlic, ginger, onion, balsamic, rice wine, red pepper flakes.
Home pickled beetroot.
Kimchi.
Japanese rice.

No pics (didn't look so pretty, anyway) but it was the epitome of untious, delicious, slow cooked meat!

Finally got round to making my own kimchi last week. Just needed to get my hands on some mason jars and Nesbits on Moore St are finally open again after lockdown.

Pretty easy to make, all the work is in the prep. The flavour just keeps developing, leaving the one you can buy in Asian shops very much in the shade.

I used this bbc recipe just using bog standard chilli flakes and radishes.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/kimchi_69909

Weighed it down with water inside plastic bags.

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the beer revolu

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

Finally got round to making my own kimchi last week. Just needed to get my hands on some mason jars and Nesbits on Moore St are finally open again after lockdown.

Pretty easy to make, all the work is in the prep. The flavour just keeps developing, leaving the one you can buy in Asian shops very much in the shade.

I used this bbc recipe just using bog standard chilli flakes and radishes.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/kimchi_69909

]

Mrs. Beer has been making it for a couple of years now.
I'd highly recommend the addition of some fruit. Pineapple is my favourite but apple or pear works well too.
I notice that that recipe, like ours, has no fish sauce or anchovies or other fish stuff. We use some wakame seaweed, some ****ake mushroom and a bit of celery for that umami flavour.
By the looks of it, ours has way more chili flakes, garlic and ginger (the ****ake, wakame and celery go in the blender, too)- it is much more coated in sauce than the BBC one or yours.
I guess our house constantly smells of kimchi:eek:

Lady Haywire

Just out of interest, what's your recipe TBR?
I've had kimchi before from Dublin & enjoyed it, though with shopping in Dublin postponed it's not looking like I'll get up for more for a while!
Also have a cousin married to a Korean girl & it'd be lovely to be able to gift them some & they both love spice.

the beer revolu

Lady Haywire wrote: »

Just out of interest, what's your recipe TBR?
I've had kimchi before from Dublin & enjoyed it, though with shopping in Dublin postponed it's not looking like I'll get up for more for a while!
Also have a cousin married to a Korean girl & it'd be lovely to be able to gift them some & they both love spice.

I'll see if mrs beer has it written down and come back.

Gloomtastic!

Lady Haywire wrote: »

Just out of interest, what's your recipe TBR?
I've had kimchi before from Dublin & enjoyed it, though with shopping in Dublin postponed it's not looking like I'll get up for more for a while!
Also have a cousin married to a Korean girl & it'd be lovely to be able to gift them some & they both love spice.

Aldi have Chinese Cabbage in stock at the moment. Who needs Dublin?

Lady Haywire

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

Aldi have Chinese Cabbage in stock at the moment. Who needs Dublin?

That's why I was looking for a recipe, I've never attempted it before but have the large kilner jars sitting in the kitchen doing nothing so it's worth a shot to make my own.

Gloomtastic!

Lady Haywire wrote: »

That's why I was looking for a recipe, I've never attempted it before but have the large kilner jars sitting in the kitchen doing nothing so it's worth a shot to make my own.

Here’s the one I mentioned earlier. I just used normal radishes and chilli flakes with a dash of paprika.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/kimchi_69909

the beer revolu

Right, Mrs Beer's recipe:

As we're going off topic here, I wonder would a fermentation thread be an idea? Mods??

I asked her for her recipe and got got a series of photos of handwritten recipes which was incomplete. It's about time this recipe gets properly recorded as lots of people ask her for it.

2 Chinese cabbages (chinese leaves/napa cabbage)
1 Daikon (mooli), half a daikon if very large
1 bunch spring onions
Sea salt - about 2 heaped Tbsp, depending on size of cabbage.
(Mrs Beer insists the using grey sea salt gives a much better flavour)
Suggested additions : pineapple, unripe pear, apple, fennel bulb

Sauce:
1-2 pinches wakame
2-3 dried ****ake mushrooms, soaked in warm water
1 head of garlic
1 1/2 thumbs of ginger
1 stick of celery
2 tsp sugar
3 tbsp Korean Chilli Powder (red pepper flakes)

We've found our local Polish shop to have the best Chinese Leaves around - huge and compact. All the other bits can be found in most Asian shops.

Day 1
Wash and chop the leaves.
Place in a bowl layering with the salt.
Rub the salt into the leaves and leave for 30 mins.
Water will start to come out of the leaves.
Compress so the leaves stay just under the liquid.
Taste the liquid, it should taste like seawater.
Leave this overnight in the fridge.

Day 2
Roughly chop all the sauce ingredients and put in food processor.
Blend for about 10 minutes, adding the mushroom water and some of the brine from the cabbage to make a paste.
Drain the cabbage and combine with chopped daikon and fruit/fennel.
Mix in the sauce and put in very clean jars, pushing down so the vegetables stay under the liquid.
Don't fill the jars completely as you need to leave room for fermentation bubbling up. But lids on loosely.
Leave jars on a tray at room temperature for 4-5 days, pressing down with a slotted spoon a couple of times a day to release the fermentation gasses.
Once fermentation has slowed down, close jars and refrigerate.
Seems to keep for ages, developing flavour and becoming more sour with time.

It's really worth getting the Korean Chilli flakes they have a particular flavour. I use it in so many dishes. Brilliant if you want lots of chilli flavour with very little heat. Use enough of it and it can get quite hot, though, but if you are a heat merchant, you might want to supplement them with something hotter.

Sorry if this is a bit long winded. Any questions, please ask.

Lady Haywire

Super, thanks. I have two 1.5L Kilners, so might attempt both recipes above & see how I get on.
This could be the beginning of beautiful fermented things

Gloomtastic!

Lady Haywire wrote: »

Super, thanks. I have two 1.5L Kilners, so might attempt both recipes above & see how I get on.
This could be the beginning of beautiful fermented things

The BBC recipe I used fills a 1 litre Kilner. I split it into two at the start and after a few days, moved it all into one. Smaller jars would probably be better because once a jar is opened, it's susceptible to bacteria so has to be eaten in a couple of weeks.

Lady Haywire

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

The BBC recipe I used fills a 1 litre Kilner. I split it into two at the start and after a few days, moved it all into one. Smaller jars would probably be better because once a jar is opened, it's susceptible to bacteria so has to be eaten in a couple of weeks.

That's an excellent excuse to buy more jars

Roald Dahl

Another one is Hungarian fermented cucumbers. It involves filling an enormous glass jar with small cucumbers and covering them in salted water, along with some herbage; dill and the likes, from memory. A slice or two of bread is then placed in the mouth of the jar.

The jar is then left in the Summer sun for three days to ferment.

I remember tasting them many years ago. They were very good.

I happened to make some kimchi myself last week and just put it into the fridge today. As I will be using it in fried rice I finely shredded the cabbage while preparing it. Thought I'd save myself the trouble afterwards.

i used East End brand red chilli, but I have just found this:

https://www.asiamarket.ie/our-home-korean-red-pepper-powder-1kg.html

Is this the proper Korean stuff for kimchi? It says it's powder, not flakes.

TheKBizzle

Roald Dahl wrote: »

Another one is Hungarian fermented cucumbers. It involves filling an enormous glass jar with small cucumbers and covering them in salted water, along with some herbage; dill and the likes, from memory. A slice or two of bread is then placed in the mouth of the jar.

The jar is then left in the Summer sun for three days to ferment.

I remember tasting them many years ago. They were very good.

I happened to make some kimchi myself last week and just put it into the fridge today. As I will be using it in fried rice I finely shredded the cabbage while preparing it. Thought I'd save myself the trouble afterwards.

i used East End brand red chilli, but I have just found this:

https://www.asiamarket.ie/our-home-korean-red-pepper-powder-1kg.html

Is this the proper Korean stuff for kimchi? It says it's powder, not flakes.

That’s the stuff I use for kimchi. It’s more like granules than a powder though.

the beer revolu

TheKBizzle wrote: »

That’s the stuff I use for kimchi. It’s more like granules than a powder though.

Same here, that's the one we get.
Seems more like flakes, to me, though.

Hodors Appletart

I love this thread!

been making sauerkraut for a few years just using whatever cabbage is on special shredded salted and into a kilner with water - just this week I added some caraway seeds

I've also started to make a version of kimchi - cabbage, bok choi stems, chinese leaf, matchstick carrots, sliced radish, chopped ginger, chopped garlic, and sriracha sauce for the chilli. It's lovely.

Seamai

Hodors Appletart wrote: »

I love this thread!

been making sauerkraut for a few years just using whatever cabbage is on special shredded salted and into a kilner with water - just this week I added some caraway seeds

I've also started to make a version of kimchi - cabbage, bok choi stems, chinese leaf, matchstick carrots, sliced radish, chopped ginger, chopped garlic, and sriracha sauce for the chilli. It's lovely.

It took me a while to get a liking for sauerkraut but I'm a fan now. The caraway seeds are a good tip, besides the taste they also help with digestion. Must try making my own.
Got my hands on some unwaxed lemons a few weeks ago and have a batch of them fermenting / preserving away with salt and extra juice for Moroccan dishes.

Hodors Appletart

just realised i forgot to put fish sauce in my latest kimchi batch :eek:

i'll open the lid later and lash some in and take some pics too

fermenting veg is very simple and i often find myself craving that beautiful sour tang

New Home

Has anyone tried to make Kombucha? I've tried a good few times, but I always end up with unfizzy tea vinegar. Mind you, it works excellently as bait in fruit fly traps...

Alex86Eire

New Home wrote: »

Has anyone tried to make Kombucha? I've tried a good few times, but I always end up with unfizzy tea vinegar. Mind you, it works excellently as bait in fruit fly traps...

I make kombucha. It is definitely trial and error. Do you do a 2nd ferment? Is your first ferment kept open to the air and your 2nd closed to allow carbonation? I follow the master recipe on Reddit.

New Home

Ah, that would explain it, it's obvious when you say it... I leave it open, covered by a cotton cloth or a sheet of kitchen paper. It makes sense that the bubbles would escape...

Any tricks on improving the flavour?

miamee

New Home wrote: »

Ah, that would explain it, it's obvious when you say it... I leave it open, covered by a cotton cloth or a sheet of kitchen paper. It makes sense that the bubbles would escape...

Any tricks on improving the flavour?

What do you normally put in for flavour? OH tends to use mixed berries which are nice, blueberries on their own also nice. Previously he did ginger and lemon or ones with cinammon sticks and a fruit but I can't remember which fruit, he hasn't done that one in a while.

New Home

miamee wrote: »

What do you normally put in for flavour? OH tends to use mixed berries which are nice, blueberries on their own also nice. Previously he did ginger and lemon or ones with cinammon sticks and a fruit but I can't remember which fruit, he hasn't done that one in a while.

I've used a combination of teas, from green jasmine (with actual jasmine flowers) to black Earl Grey and another batch with vanilla - it all turned to vinegar.

miamee

Sorry, I forgot that OH always uses plain green tea as well in the first fermentation with the scoby. Just asked him there - 3 green tea bags and 50g of sugar per litre of water in the first fermentation and he leaves that for 2 weeks. Then remove the scoby, pour the mixture into a new jar/bottles that can be closed tight and add the fruits or whatever flavouring you want, leave for 2-3 days with lid on. They may need to be 'burped' in that time depending on how fizzy they get.

Slightly off-topic - God the scobys are awful looking yokes aren't they?

Alex86Eire

New Home wrote: »

Ah, that would explain it, it's obvious when you say it... I leave it open, covered by a cotton cloth or a sheet of kitchen paper. It makes sense that the bubbles would escape...

Any tricks on improving the flavour?

Yep make sure the 2nd ferment is left closed. Flavour wise your safest bet is dried flavourings like flavoured tea. I use berry tea bags. Elderflower cordial is also lovely but you can add whatever mixed fruits you want. Once you get the carbonation and level of 'vinegaryness' right you can experiment away then!

New Home

Thank you both, I'll try all suggestions. As for the scoby, it looks like a lab-grown skin graft...

New Home

One more question, please: do you rinse the scoby when you start the next batch?? If so, what with? Tea, water, kombucha, something else?

Alex86Eire

New Home wrote: »

One more question, please: do you rinse the scoby when you start the next batch?? If so, what with? Tea, water, kombucha, something else?

No I don't rinse. You'd be rinsing off some of the bacteria and yeast

tringle

I got Mark Diancos book Sour, some nice stuff in it. I decided to make a sort of Kimchi, its not quite a kimchi and not quite a saurkraut. Ive lots of courgettes in the garden so looking for some way to preserve them. Used regular hard cabbage, carrot and the courgette and rubbed in the salt Then whizzed up garlic, ginger, chilli flakes and tomatoes and added that. Bashed it into a jar and left it for 5 days. Tasted it and my instant thought was thats too salty, then uck thats very sour and then mmm garlic ginger and chilli. Its not my favourite preserve but we will eat the 2 litres ive made and then think about it again.
Im going to try the kombucha, i have some really good green tea with peppermint.
And ive just started a sourdough and hope to have it ready to use in a week. Ive done sourdoughs before, usually only in the summer when i bake daily

Alex86Eire

tringle wrote: »

Im going to try the kombucha, i have some really good green tea with peppermint.

I'd definitely be careful with the peppermint. Kombucha is very sensitive and doesn't work well with certain herbs.

c.p.w.g.w

Is it possible to use York Cabbage for home making Kimchi

Dizzyblonde

c.p.w.g.w I've merged your thread with this one, where there is already discussion about kimchi