Kimchi And Fermented Vegetables How To And Why

Those are beautiful, Lucy!

 

Those beets are really pretty, sliced like that.

 

Cleanup isn't my Forte either

I am very good a MAKING a mess though.

 

Thanks. Unfortunately they don't retain their colour when they ferment, they pale to a dull white. I couldn't tell the golden beets from the red Chioggia beets. That's why I like them in the salad. It's a pretty salad to serve.

I'm good enough at that myself! Cleanup wasn't too bad here. But when shredded cabbage is involved, it ends up all over the place. Cleanup ain't so fun.

 

I took the rutabagas off the shelf a couple of days ago. And it went straight in the trash. :-( This was the jar where the contents got into the airlock and I put in a clean airlock mid way through. I guess air got in with the airlock not working properly. Don't overload your jars! I'll get it right eventually.The contents smelled bad and were mushy. I'll have to try them again. Next time I won't julienne them thinly like that. I'll slice them bigger with the mandoline like I did the kohlrabi.

I also took off the small jar of sauerkraut mixed with the acorn squash. I had added half a hot red banana pepper I bought at the farmer's market, so it has a nice kick to it. It turned out perfect. I'm going to start adding hot peppers to some of the jars again. I had stopped doing that to see how the contents turn out without it. I like it both ways, so I'll make some with and some without.

 

Aww, too bad about the rutabaga. Yeah I need to make some without chile, sometimes I like to have it with mexican food thats already hot enough on its own, I don't need more added with the meal.

 

I took the jar (smaller jar) of hot peppers off the shelf and tasted them. These were the green Cubanelle and sweet red peppers with chilli flakes, fermented for almost 6 weeks. They weren't very hot at all. Not sure if the dried chilli flakes aren't enough (I've always used fresh chili peppers before), or whether I didn't put enough in. So I threw in a habanero pepper (just cut it in half) and stuck the jar in the fridge. Hopefully that will add some heat.

I have six 2-litre jars left on the shelf. I never got to the squash, I've been roasting them instead (I don't want to peel them!). I want to try something new anyway, wonder what I should try.

Anybody do anymore fermenting? I guess everyone is busy with the holidays.

 

aii chi chi!

Yeah, habenero aught to do the trick, lol

I have some kohlrabi I picked up last week I've been putting off...I'm about to finish my last jar of chili n' turnip. I've been adding fish sauce to my stuff before the ferment and I'm really liking the results. Umami!

 

I may have to try that, with a small jar.

I took one of the jars of mixed veggies with the kohlrabi and striped beets off the shelf yesterday and had a taste. The kohlrabi is fantastic! The first time I fermented kohlrabi alone I really liked it. I like it even more this way, sliced thinly. Kohlrabi stays very crisp, so it's easier to eat when thinner. The striped and golden beets turned out good too, but the kohlrabi is definitely the highlight.

Did I say kohlrabi too many times? Kohlrabi, kohlrabi, kohlrabi! I think we need a dancing kohlrabi emoticon.

 

Does anyone else here love the smell of their fermented peppers? I like the smell of fresh peppers anyway, but the ferments are something else. They taste great too.

 

I haven't made peppers but I love the smell of the cabbage fermenting!

 

Yep, all of it...I love the smell of fermenting veggies. It's weird how it grows on you. I actually left the bottom of a jar with a little brine and a few flakes of veggies on the counter with the intention of throwing it out, but I ended up leaving it for quite a bit too long, lol. When I finally did go to throw it out I expected it would smell pretty bad but amazingly it still smelled wonderful, LOL

 

They might have still been edible, lol.
I've still got my second (I think) jar of traditional kimchi. I'm only eating a little at a time to see how long it stays good. It still tastes great. I forgot to mark a date one it, but it's at least a few months old (I'm really bad with time).

 

Meeeee tooo!
I just taste tested some kohlrabi and turnips that I started the other day, finally, after Lucy posting about kohlrabi. I think it ties with traditional kimchi as my favorite. I made one quart with a tablespoon of salt, and a 1/2 teaspoon of dill, and one quart with salt, and a little ginger and garlic. I like the dill the best.

 

I put up 2 quarts of kohlrabi this evening. I used extra fish sauce this time, I love it so much. Fresh minced garlic, salt and a dash of cayenne are the only other ingredients.

 

The smell of fermenting peppers I like, cabbage not so much (you guys are nuts!) But I do love the taste of it.

I was only able to put together one jar today. I saw a recipe for dill kohlrabi, so I'm trying a smaller jar. I still have to get to my cauliflower, It's a curried cauliflower recipe, and I want to make another big jar of kohlrabi and striped and golden beets since I have the beets in my fridge to use up.

fermenting paraphernalia




dill kohlrabi jarred up




Seems we're on a kohlrabi craze. Your turn, Aeri, (Hey, we all had to hunt for it!)

 

I doubt I'll make a trip to run it down.

 

Tsk. Do try it if you ever come across it though. If you like cabbage, I bet you'll like kohlrabi.

 

I will!

 

I had to do some cooking for an event today (made borscht) and I had quite a bit of cabbage left over but not a lot of time, so I threw the shredded cabbage into a 2 litre jar with a water brine (rather than massaging the salt into the cabbage for sauerkraut) and threw in a couple of hot peppers. So more kimchi style. I haven't had it that way for a while, so it will be a nice change. And I finally sliced up the striped and golden beets and the rest of the kohlrabi into another 2 litre jar. I put those in the cool room because I don't mind if they take a while, I just wanted to use up the vegetables, but I moved the dill kohlrabi into the kitchen for now, to get it started. It's pretty cold in the cool room with our frigid temps the last few days. There's only a small heater in there and it doesn't go beyond a certain temp, especially when it's windy as it has been.