Anyone ferment fruit & vegetables?

[Chilli.s]

Anyone make Kimchi? I get through the supermarket stuff and it cant be too hard to make

 

[smee]

Anyone make Kimchi? I get through the supermarket stuff and it cant be too hard to make

I do - have done the traditional daikon radish and cabbage one and one with just courgettes (and I think onion. It was back in courgette glut season) which I slightly preferred. Lots of recipes online (can’t find the one I originally followed!) but do get the proper chilli flakes (gochugaru)…
It lasts forever in the fridge aswell. We were eating one batch after about 18 months.

 

[smee]

I do - have done the traditional daikon radish and cabbage one and one with just courgettes (and I think onion. It was back in courgette glut season) which I slightly preferred. Lots of recipes online (can’t find the one I originally followed!) but do get the proper chilli flakes (gochugaru)…
It lasts forever in the fridge aswell. We were eating one batch after about 18 months.

Oh and I don’t use fish sauce or shrimp paste. Bit of soy sauce instead.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Ah okay, so you need bottles?

I think there's several ways of doing it, but I made a batch and then bottled in old beer bottles and crimped the caps on, then started the next.

 

[sojourner]

Cheers

 

[Wolveryeti]

Anyone make Kimchi? I get through the supermarket stuff and it cant be too hard to make

It isn't hard - this is a good recipe link: Traditional napa cabbage kimchi (Tongbaechu-kimchi: 통배추김치) recipe by Maangchi

The benefit of homebrew is you can get it to how fermented you like, then refrigerate it to really slow down the process and keep it at that level.

 

[gentlegreen]

Unusually for someone who sometimes has 4 different cruciferous greens in their dinner and eats vast quantities of lightly-pickled Polish veggies I struggle with sauerkraut.

I bought a jar of plain pasteurised yesterday for another attempt and as expected found it too salty...
I tried rinsing some and can see myself losing it in my stew, but presumably the idea is to buy live cultures and use the brine ?

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Unusually for someone who sometimes has 4 different cruciferous greens in their dinner and eats vast quantities of lightly-pickled Polish veggies I struggle with sauerkraut.

I bought a jar of plain pasteurised yesterday for another attempt and as expected found it too salty...
I tried rinsing some and can see myself losing it in my stew, but presumably the idea is to buy live cultures and use the brine ?

No, you don't want to reuse brine. Fresh water and salt and the cabbage finds its own cultures.

I'm pretty indifferent to white cabbage sourkraut, but red in larger chunks is a staple in our house.

 

[gentlegreen]

No, you don't want to reuse brine. Fresh water and salt and the cabbage finds its own cultures.

I'm pretty indifferent to white cabbage sourkraut, but red in larger chunks is a staple in our house.

What I meant was that the brine is going to contain the healthy probiotics ?
Rather than it just being an alternative to vinegar pickles...

 

[iona]

What I meant was that the brine is going to contain the healthy probiotics ?
Rather than it just being an alternative to vinegar pickles...

If you make it yourself there isn't really much brine, unless you add loads of water which isn't necessary. I don't add any.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

What I meant was that the brine is going to contain the healthy probiotics ?
Rather than it just being an alternative to vinegar pickles...

I'd imagine so, but I wouldn't drink it. It's quite high in salt, I'd rather just eat more cabbage.

If you make it yourself there isn't really much brine, unless you add loads of water which isn't necessary. I don't add any.

I think it depends on your preferred style. If I'm doing white I do it fine or even grated and most of the liquid comes from salt on cabbage. As I do the red bigger and it's firmer I need a fair bit to submerge it properly.

 

[gentlegreen]

I'm probably being spoiled by the fake sweetness of the lightly pickled cabbage I eat so much of ...

white cabbage 50%, carrot 11%, onion 10%,
cucumbers in brine 10%,
bell pepper 6%,
water,
sugar, vinegar, salt, sweetener - saccharin, spices ....


Per 100g:
139kj / 33kcal,
Fat 0.5g, including saturated fatty acids 0.1g,
carbohydrates 7.5g, including sugars 5g,
Protein 1.4g,
Salt 0.8g.

 

[iona]

I've not tried it but I know a lot of people find some of the more difficult veg do better if you make a batch of something easy like cabbage in a wet brine first, and then strain that off and use some like a starter.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

15p Veg in Aldi and Asda over the weekend. Bought a load of carrots in Asda as it been ages since I've done that one. Went to Aldi today and got 4 red cabbages.

Got home and realised I'm really short on jars. So now moving anything that doesn't need to be in glass to plastic tubs. I contempted IKEA, but even though it's just round the corner, I still can't face the whole "experience".

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Busy evening

 

[ouirdeaux]

I have never struggled with sauerkraut, but for those who do, there is sauerkraut salad. Several zillion recipes online.

 

[Wolveryeti]

This sounds absolutely mental but I really want to try some.

 

[sojourner]

Left my new kraut brewing for 7 days, flannel and elastic band on the top, and the brine's gone cloudy and it smells like vinegar. Never done this before and I've used exactly the same method. Jars were sterilised too.

It doesn't have that lovely tangy smell. I did have the dehumidifier going in there a few days, drying washing. Think that's had an effect?

 

[sojourner]

Just had some. It was absolutely delicious, so turned out just fine.

 

[Epona]

N is fermenting some chillies, this makes me nervous that I'm going to find some jars filled with fizzy mould in a couple of months time after he's forgotten about them and moved onto a new project
(We have a cupboard full of cake decorating supplies from last year)

 

[UnderOpenSky]

N is fermenting some chillies, this makes me nervous that I'm going to find some jars filled with fizzy mould in a couple of months time after he's forgotten about them and moved onto a new project
(We have a cupboard full of cake decorating supplies from last year)

I forgot about scotch bonnets and garlic for about 9 months and they were fine.

Did manage to mace myself with the sauce though so watch out for it continuing to fermented in the bottle.

 

[Epona]

I forgot about scotch bonnets and garlic for about 9 months and they were fine.

Did manage to mace myself with the sauce though so watch out for it continuing to fermented in the bottle.

I think he plans to make a tomato and chilli hot sauce with them next week, he's got a load of garlic in there too, asked me to order some passata (our tomato plant is only just flowering) and is eyeing up my oregano plant.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

I think he plans to make a tomato and chilli hot sauce with them next week, he's got a load of garlic in there too, asked me to order some passata (our tomato plant is only just flowering) and is eyeing up my oregano plant.

Sounds nice. Although I'd probably want a few more weeks if your aiming for actually fermented.

 

[Epona]

Sounds nice. Although I'd probably want a few more weeks if your aiming for actually fermented.

My only aim is to remind him about the jars because I don't want the things exploding in my cupboard if they are forgotten about

 

[Epona]

Sounds nice. Although I'd probably want a few more weeks if your aiming for actually fermented.

He decided he was going to turn it into sauce today - the chilli/garlic/brine mixture has been in mason jars in the cupboard for about a month.
It's turned out pretty decent as a mild to mid heat hot sauce, very very tasty, but I think he should have used different chillies for something with more heat, although I really like it, he wanted it hotter.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

He decided he was going to turn it into sauce today - the chilli/garlic/brine mixture has been in mason jars in the cupboard for about a month.
It's turned out pretty decent as a mild to mid heat hot sauce, very very tasty, but I think he should have used different chillies for something with more heat, although I really like it, he wanted it hotter.

Scotch bonnets, garlic and the water it's fermented should do it. Xanthan gum can be useful to stop in seperating the bottle.

 

[Epona]

Scotch bonnets, garlic and the water it's fermented should do it. Xanthan gum can be useful to stop in seperating the bottle.

Nah I'm getting fed up with this experiment now, he lost interest at the putting it on the hob to cook it stage and he didn't have any jars or bottles sterilised to put the finished product in so I've spent my evening doing that while he watches TV

 

[Wolveryeti]

This is a cracking book full of lush recipes - highly recommend:

 

[Wolveryeti]

The recently colder weather made me get back in the saddle - I prefer it to hot (the pickles run too fast towards something funkier than I am comfortable with).

Red cabbage and cauliflower with garlic and caraway. I like how it looks a bit like brains. Mmmm brains...

 

[sojourner]

I've never considered doing cauli. Hmm, might get one on the go! Thanks for the inspiration Wolveryeti .