Kimchi And Fermented Vegetables How To And Why

Those beets look so good!


That is so cool that it is so easy to keep things(like your leftover cabbage) from going to waste by fermenting them.

 

It is nice. I usually put the surplus in the fridge only to discover a right slimy mess the next time I reach for them. This way I can forget about them in the jars for weeks and end up with something even better in the end.

I finished my fermenting today. I tried a new salsa recipe. Three tomatoes, one onion, one bell pepper, couple of hot peppers, all diced up, add two teaspoons crushed coriander seeds, half teaspoon freshly ground cumin, and two teaspoons lime juice. Squeeze the mess to get the juices out then mix 2 Tablespoons of salt in. No water, just the juices from the vegetables themselves. Last time I made a water brine and it didn't have that nice thick sauce you get with salsa. This recipe is supposed to remedy that. It smelled so good I wanted to eat it right there and then! I had hot yellow peppers left over, so I threw those into a jar with an added Thai Chili pepper. It only filled half a jar, I still haven't found the smaller wide mouth jars, so I stuck a small jar in the top to keep the contents down.

The third is a curried cauliflower. I can't wait to see how this one turns out. 2 Tablespoons curry powder and four smashed garlic cloves, cover with water brine. It smelled so good. This and with all the curry talk here, I'm really craving it now. Have to make curry soon. I put these on a shelf in the kitchen. The salsa I'll probably just put in the fridge after a week or so, the others I'll move to the cool room after a few days, I'd like to ferment them longer.

 

I've been going through a battery of tests and procedures because it seems my blood pressure has soared enough to make the doctors worry. It runs in my family but I've always been able to maintain mine. I'm afraid the fermented veggies may be playing a part in this. Since I would still like to keep at it, I'm attempting low sodium ferments. And eventually no-salt ferments. I'm going to look into this. There have got to be other people on low sodium diets out there that like fermented foods. Anyone with any info or tips, please chime in.

Today I made cabbage (water brine, not salt massaged into the cabbage) with only a teaspoon of salt per 2L (2 quarts) of water, and a hot pepper in each. I put in a bit of liquid from another batch as a starter to quicken the ferment and keep the bad bacteria at bay. I'm also going to eventually try the no-salt fermenting and use herbs and spices instead. More experimenting to do! I'll let you all know how it goes. I'm sure you'll all want to try it! :-D

 

I'm definitely down with that!

 

Ha ha, you're so cool, dude! ;-D I think it will be fun to do the experimenting. Just when we thought it was getting boring! Not sure if I'll wait until summer when it's warmer and the ferments start faster. If you do any earlier, let us know how it goes. I need inspiration.

 

:coolgleamA: lol!

I did a few jars with a little less salt. I added some starter liquid from an earlier batch of kimchi. I might have mentioned it earlier I'm this thread, but I'm not sure. I haven't tried without salt yet though.

Some sauerkraut that I made with less salt is good, but I'm so used to regular kraut that it tasted funny at first. It's still really crunchy.

 

I posted a pic of the kraut that has less salt in it, but I didn't post how much salt I put in. It was a 2 quart jar of red cabbage. I think I put in just one tablespoon or less. I added liquid from a kimchi jar.

 

I actually found most of the kimchi too salty for my taste probably because I'm used to eating lower sodium meals, so I probably won't mind less salt. I used more salt because I was worried about the bad bacteria which they were saying is controlled by salt but I'm seeing there are fermenting alternates to avoid it. It'll be interesting to try it, I'm not ready to give up yet.

Thanks for the info. I'm glad to hear the cabbage is still crunchy. I put in one teaspoon only per 2 litres (and added previous liquid). Salt is supposed to keep the veggies crunchier because it pulls out the liquid from them, that that will be another thing to try and control. I wonder if any herbs have the same attributes, like the grape and horseradish leaves did.

 

Lucy have a read here for some alternatives. Maybe try them on a small batch until you find one that works well for you. A friend said she did not have success with the pro-biotic capsules but felt maybe it was the quality of them rather than the method.

http://joybileefarm.com/fermented-vegetables-no-salt/

 

That's a really good article Heather. I've tried kraut with less salt(it definitely needed something for more flavor) . I'm going to try some kohlrabi, soon, with only salt that is in the liquid that I add from a previous batch. I'll probably add dill seasoning to it also. If that turns out ok I'll try some more thing, with different herbs.

 

My last batch of fermented cabbage has more salt than I like. I've been eating it on top of dried beans and it's awesome...kind of like chow-chow.

 

Thanks, Heat, good info there.

Probiotic supplements are all too often inert. I've worked in the field, the supplements require special handling to keep them viable that are (very) often neglected by stores and shipping companies. So I wouldn't go that route. I think I'll stick to adding liquid from a previous batch. My next attempt will have no salt, just the liquid added to see how that option turns out. I wondered how much to use. I'll try the 1/2 cup they suggest.

 

Raw fermented hot sauce is the bomb. I've never made it myself yet, but there is just no way I can go back to non-fermented. The first time I tried a raw fermented hot sauce (from Bad Ass Organics I think) I thought "Is this what food is supposed to taste like? What the hell have I been eating?"

 

The over use of salt is fairly common as when fermenting was first done there were not the means we have today of cleanliness and the only preservative readily available was salt. Then even to control temperatures was a challenge.

I know my friends mom who does it for all of us now only uses less than half the salt she use to when she grew up and learned how to do this from her mom. Times and food chemistry knowledge changes.

I am looking forward to reading about the adaptations and results.

 

As soon as I get my energy back, I'm going to start that experimenting. No salt, just herbs. Maybe a tad of salt from previous liquid from another batch. I may start it in the kitchen to get it going faster then transfer to the cool room. For now I'm having just a bit a day of the salted batches to help get well again. I need the probiotics, but I'm keeping it to the minimum needed. But it will be nice to have successful saltless batches eventually.

 

I think adding the starter liquid from a previous batch sounds like a good idea.

 

I figure eventually it won't have any salt in it, just the good bacteria to start up the new batch.

I tried my first jar of the low-salt cabbage I made a few weeks ago. I'm reporting on the taste and texture. The texture is the biggest change. It doesn't have the crunch that the heavier salt ferments do but the taste isn't bad. I had put a hot pepper in so that helped. Next time I'll put two hot peppers and try some herbs. It could use a bit more flavour. As for the crunchiness, I'll have to get used to softer veggies. My next try will be with kohlrabi. I wonder if that will retain more of a crunch.

I had opened a jar of the curry cauliflower a couple of weeks ago and forgot to report on that. I found it way too strong. Either I'll have to use less curry powder or it just isn't a great fermenting spice. I'll experiment with it some time in the future.

 

I bought stuff to make my standard favorite, cabbage.

My body seems to be in need of the good stuff.

I'll rummage around and see if I have another cabbage that's done.

I've got turnips and radishes, green beans, idk what else but I really just want the cabbage without too much salt.

 

Do you mean you have green beans still fermenting or did you already sample them? Green beans is something that didn’t work for me, they turned out mushy and absorbed the salt and herbs too much. But I only did them the one time, they may do better with less fermenting time. I'm wondering how yours turned out.

I sampled the jar of dill kohlrabi I made 4 weeks ago, the one with fresh dill and mustard seed. It is SO good. Alas, I'm going to have to give it away, it's a batch that had quite a bit of salt in it. But the flavour of the dill and mustard seed is delicious. It actually tastes like dill pickles. I highly recommend it. I'll definitely have to try it again without the salt.

 

I did the green beans months ago. They are in the fridge. They didn't get mushy.