Kimchi And Fermented Vegetables How To And Why

I'm getting ready to try my first batch of kimchi! I went out and bought a case of 12 1litre mason jars yesterday and am ready to go!

 

Oh good, you're finally trying it. Never mind enjoying your summer, there's kimchi to be made! Can't wait to hear how it goes.

I made a couple more jars of sauerkraut, the salt massage method. I took one of the mixed veggies off the shelf. This is the one that had the asparagus in the mix and I said I'd report back on how it did. I usually ferment the mixed veggies longer but this jar seemed to be fermenting faster. Maybe because of the sweet potatoes. So it was on the shelf for just over a week (it's been warmer weather this week so the cool room is at the higher end in temperature). The asparagus turned out nice and crisp! I was afraid it would be mush. I also tried sweet potato in this mix. The sweet potatoes were mushy. I won't ferment them again. I'll have to try a jar of asparagus alone now that I know they do well.

 

I'm going to try asparagus next, I think.

Did these yesterday:

 

Oh mushrooms, that's interesting. They'll probably soak up the brine and seasonings even more than green beans. Let us know how they turned out when they're done.

I also want to try fermenting hot peppers. Maybe banana peppers, make them into rings. I thought they might be good on pizza, throw some on after the pizza is cooked.

 

I've canned hot peppers with carrots on cauliflower before. I thought about trying a lacto-fermented-pickled-onion-recipe too.

I've got some jalapeños and banana peppers growing right now. I might try soon.

I'll post how the mushrooms turn out. I only put in a teaspoon per quart of salt, but I added a cup of culture from my kimchi to get a head start on fermentation. I hope they don't get too salty.

 

I'm halfway through making the kimchi now! I'm very excited! I'm just waiting for the jars to sterilize and the cabbage to lose enough water. Everything else is ready to go! If I only have enough to fill 1 and a half jars, will the half jar still ferment alright? I'm just worried I won't have enough for 2 full jars.

 

It will be fine as long as you put something in the jar to weigh it down so that the contents stay under the brine.

 

We have onions in with cukes here.

The onions are good!

 

I put onions in my bell peppers, but I found the onions overpowered the peppers. I like the sweeter onions, either red or Vadalia or Texas Sweet, and I find fermenting kills the sweetness. So I'm not sure if I'll make them. Maybe I'll try a small batch with some herbs for flavouring just to try them out.

 

I bought I big bag of cucumbers on sale yesterday that I want to do something with as well. They aren't pickle sized cucumbers, they are quite big, but does anyone have any ideas?

 

I like my cucumbers with lots of garlic in the jar. I would sure put a leaf in from now on. Something with the tannin to keep the cukes from going mushy.

 

Well there is a grape plant growing outside my house along the pathway, so I will add a grape leaf!

 

Well 1.5 jars of kimchi is fermenting away above my fridge today and I'm getting ready to try fermenting some cucumbers!

 

I've yet to have the leaves work. I've used tea leaves and horseradish leaves but my cukes are always too soft, even the ones I've fermented in the cool room. But I read that if the cukes aren't fresh, that will happen. I was finally able to get fresh pickling cukes at the farmer's market. So I made a jar of dill cukes (with mustard seed, black peppercorns,whole cloves,cinnamon, coriander, bay leaf, garlic and dill of course), we'll see if these turn out crisper. I use horseradish leaves since I've got an abundance of them. I also made a jar of asparagus, just with garlic.




All my lids are in use now, but the cukes I only ferment for a few days, so when those are in the fridge, I'll made a jar of hot peppers. I bought hot red banana peppers and also hot green peppers that the farmers didn’t know the name of. They look like green banana peppers or cubanelles. Here's the variety in the cool room at the moment. In the back are more mixed veggies and the sauerkraut.

 

I am trying a jar of fermented chayote tonight. I got a big bag of them on sale and think they would be nice pickled. I'm not sure what spices to add to it though. I cut them into strips that are slightly bigger than a julienne and they are sitting in some salt right now while my jar bakes.

 

Maybe try spices traditional to a curry.

 

^ I like that plan!

Also, my kimchi is ready and is sooooooo tasty! I am going to reduce the salt a bit next time, but otherwise it was perfect!

 

Chayote, cool. Let us know what you think of using the spices. I've tried herbs and spices and found them either overbearing or unnoticeable. The only thing I've found works well is garlic and with some vegetables, hot peppers.

Good news on the kimchi. I really liked mine too, except I'd go easier on the chili paste I made, just a tad less.

I came across green cauliflower (broccoflower) and orange cauliflower on special. I couldn't resist buying some to ferment. The orange is a mutation that was found here in Canada, that was then cross bred with white cauliflower. A plus is the beta carotene in the orange. There's a purple as well, that apparently gets its colour from too much sun. I didn't want the purple to bleed to the other colors so I just bought the green and orange.

 

Don't forget the fresh ginger for seasoning!

 

I can't use ginger! (Mattey's gonna like this) Pickled ginger tastes like soap to me. My sad malformed palate. :-(