Kimchi And Fermented Vegetables How To And Why

i'm leaving for Malaysia in 2 days...in the central stesen mall I know a Korean restaurant..
i once took a kimchi dish there..never tasted it before...I find it good...
Kuala Lumpur is full of shopping malls,restaurants of all kinds...

 

I bet their versions are so much better than ours. I'm going to have to try a low salt batch and see if it's any good. I miss having it. Did you get to the Korean restaurant there?

 

I bought some beautiful hot red peppers at the farmers market and jarred them today. I bought the same ones last season and they turned out delicious. I can't wait for this batch to be ready.

 

Are those hot?

 

Yes, they're hot peppers. For red peppers I usually use sweet peppers and add habaneros to the jars to give them heat while they ferment. But every year one of the farmers brings in these delicious hot red peppers at the end of the season and I buy a basket of them. I wish I could find them in the stores here but all they seem to sell are the yellow hot peppers. They're good too, but I prefer the red.

 

I wanted to ask why.
But then I read the following posts.

This is interesting, I wasn't aware of all the health benefits.

 

Yes, they're loaded with probiotics (good bacteria), more potent than you'll ever get in a pill.

 

I started 2 big jars of pickles today. The farmers market had nice fresh pickling cukes so I bought a basket. I hope they turn out as good as the last batch.

 

I cleaned out the refrigerator yesterday.

Hubby's disaster cukes got composted; other than that I had used everything I made except about half a jar of green beans. I just really didn't enjoy those.

I found a whole jar of cabbage and a whole jar of turnips that I didn't know I had. Yay! I found a half jar of carrots that I'll be nibbling. I want to make more of them.

The cabbage and turnips together; and the carrots - those are my two favorites.

Hubby got the beet seeds planted today. Hopefully, I'll have alot of them this Winter.

 

My hot red peppers turned out too hot! I mean searing hot. I like some heat, but I'd like to keep my flesh intact. I think it may have been because I left the seeds in. I'm back to the yellow hot peppers, I made a couple of jars today. I seeded them, hopefully this batch will turn out good. They go so well on the homemade pizza I make, and I'm missing not having any at the moment.

 

Jamie Oliver has a show out called Super Foods (which is full of misinformation, his staff must Google the facts) BUT… in today's episode he visited Korea and was talking kimchi! They had 167 different types of kimichi at the market! They showed the locals making cabbage kimchi, in huge vats. They sell fresh kimchi at the market, in all the varieties, that customers can buy and take home to ferment themselves. They also sell fermented kimchi at different stages, they had two-week old kimchi, a few months-old kimchi and one that was 2 years old. Must have been some awesome flavours in that one. That would be so neat to go to market and just pick some up, and all those varieties.

Here's a pic of the market. Only part of the market, it was huge, the whole left side was full of different kimchis.

 

2 years old?! I still have some kraut from this past summer that is still good. I wish I'd have labeled it with a date. I keep putting of my next batch of kimchi, which I will try to do with a traditional recipe.

Definitely! And you wouldn't have to clean up the mess from making your own .

 

I bought a jar of Kimchi and tried it for the first time.

It really psyched me out--the almost carbonated feeling it has on your tongue. The lingering scent of fermentation.

But I'm going to push myself to eat more--because it is healthful and it does taste good. Mind over matter!

 

I don't think it should have a carbonated taste, I never detected it, or have a fermented scent (although cabbage is cabbage, lol, if maybe that's what you meant). I wonder if it had gone bad. Was it in a fridge or on a shelf?

 

Maybe it was the acidity or herbs. A couple of my jars caused a sensation on my tongue that I couldn't really describe. I assumed it was either acidity, herbs, or I've taken too many blows to the head over the years lol.

 

I think it's the latter. Youfreeme, any blows to your head lately? :-D

Maybe I'm just not thinking of it the same way. I find it a sourish taste, but not tingly. But I tend to ferment my veggies a long time, so they're more mellowed out by then. Maybe shorter ferments have that sensation.

 

What benefits does kimchi offer?

 

It was refrigerated in the store. The glass bottle warned of a slightly carbonated sensation in the mouth. I didn't notice this on the label until I had felt the bubbliness on my tongue and panicked that the kimchi had gone bad, but I guess it's normal. I don't know. Will have to try other brands, or make my own.

No, no recent head trauma haha

 

Probiotic bacteria. It helps keep bad bacteria levels low.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24456350

Also, probiotics increase levels of butyrate(and some other things) in the colon that help prevent cancer.

http://m.ajcn.nutrition.org/content/73/2/451s.full

Not to mention you get nutrients from the vegetables and other ingredients.


Edit: Some say that it helps with digestive issues that could lead to bigger problems while you're waiting in line at the taco bell drive thru, or unable to find your way out of Ikea.

 

Yeah, the gut flora correction is awesome.

It works really well for IBS.