Anyone here make kimchi or other fermented foods?

[Snoop Puss]

I've been thinking about making kimchi. I've been looking online, but it all seems too easy and problem free, largely because all I ever seem to come across is bloggers wanting to promote the clean-eating cause and companies flogging kit.

So, I thought I'd ask on here to get real info from real people

Is it easy? What are the pitfalls? Do I need any special equipment? How do you store it once made?

Thanks.

[SelkirkAlex]

it is fairly easy but also remarkably easy how it can all go wrong. in my limited experience, sauerkraut and kimchi are pretty easy, where I had problems was with chunky brine pickles and dill cucumbers

sterilising everything well is vital.

I started using a traditional stoneware crock and trying brine fermented cucumbers, of which I had quite a surplus crop, everyone says they are easy, my first 3 batches went in the bin. still don't think my brine is right, got to the point where veggies were preserving fairly well but wasn't getting enough acid production to give them any "tang" will experiment further this season.

then I bought a small fermenting jar from lakeland 1.5 litres a much more manageable size and perfect for kimchi, I grew wong bok chinese cabbage and mooli to use as the radish, this year I an even growing korean chilli. as you might guess I love korean food and cooking, my first attempts at kimchi weren't perfect but edible and all the better for being all mine

then I decided to try my hand at sauerkraut, again the small jar produced edible if not perfect results the big crock was disastrous.

I think I will have it all down pat this year.

so persevere, sterilise and be prepared for some disasters, would definately suggest trying small scale at first


is it worth all the trouble? probably not, I don't really go for all the probiotic spin, but I am the kind of person who likes acquiring odd skills.

[mat]

I ferment just about everything I grow! My favourite being black winter radishes. It really is as easy as it's made out to be - which isn't to say it doesn't sometimes go wrong. But I would strongly recommend starting with a couple of books (not to ferment, I mean - to read) which will give you all the (very little) information you need, and reassure you at the same time. My two favourites are https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pr...8aAkpmEALw_wcB and https://wordery.com/the-art-of-ferme...QaAlYyEALw_wcB. If they haven't closed the public library where you live, worth checking there.

[SelkirkAlex]

sorry, didn't really answer your questions, kitwise I can recommend the fermenting jars from lakeland they have a nifty pressure release valve, so you don't have to "burb" your ferment, the only other kit you need are weights to hold the veg down, they do make special glass or ceramic weights for this, but I just use a ramakin

[HoneyChild]

It's been quite a few years but I've done sauerkraut, beetroot, carrots/ginger, lemon, ketchup as well as milk kefir, water kefir and kombucha.

I used kilner jars and sterilised them in an oven. In terms of sauerkraut I remember the importance of keeping the vegetables below the surface of the water otherwise there can be mould growing. I tried all sorts of things including a small glass tealight holder.

Kombucha is a bit of a pain to make and my scoby died and I never bothered to buy another one. Kefir is a lot easier but again you need to keep feeding it to keep it alive. Unfortunately I didn't look after them enough and they died.

[Snoop Puss]

Great advice, guys. Thanks for the book recommendations, mat. And the equipment recommendation, Alex. And the inspiration, Honeychild.

When the fermentation process has finished, what do you do? Do you empty it out of the fermentation jar and keep it in the fridge or do you leave it in the fermentation jar? I need more than one jar?

[mysteryduck]

I recommend daikon radish kimchi as it's quicker and easier to make:

1 - Get the radish and chop it up into cubes, put it in a big plastic container (an old one, it's going to get stained) add 2tbsp of sugar and salt, mix it up and wait an hour.

2 - After that, drain off most of the liquid, mix in 6 tbsp of gochugaru (red pepper powder), 7 (or more) cloves of garlic, 2 tbsp of fish sauce (or soy sauce if you're a veggie), 4 spring onions (chopped). Mix it up.

3 - Transfer to 1 litre Kilner jars (I ordered a fancy fermenting jar once but it arrived cracked so I got a refund. An airtight jar works just as well. Though I've heard of people using plastic containers). Squash it down as much as you can but leave a small gap at the top. Depending on the size of the radish you will need 2 or 3 jars?

4 - Wait a day. If there are bubbles in the liquid, it should be ready. Taste it. It should be a bit tangy. If all is well, store the jar in the fridge. If not, wait another day and repeat. If there are no bubbles and a few days have passed, then something is wrong (I tried a recipe once that asked for the radish to be rinsed after step 1, which meant not enough salt and no fermentation), start again. If there's only a couple of bubbles, wait a bit more. But remember to open the jar every day or risk a kimchi eruption (kimchi liquid everywhere).

5 - Kimchi will develop in flavour the longer you keep it, but fermentation will slow down in the fridge.

I highly recommend 'Our Korean Kitchen' by Jordan Bourke and Rejina Pyo. I have a few Korean recipe books. It's the best.

[SelkirkAlex]

with the lakeland jars they are small enough to just put in fridge, or you could decant into any suitable jars

[Mitzi]

I had milk kefir. I quite liked it but a lot of people aren't too keen on the taste. Got a friend to come in and feed the cats when I had to go away in an emergency. She thought it was something "off" and threw it out. :-(

[veggiechicken]

Since my unpleasant experience with Herman, I've gone off anything fermented - apart from yoghurt.

If you don't know about Herman you can read about him at https://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gr...ml#post1032447

[Snoop Puss]

^Herman sounds like quite a lot of effort. Plus, it's donkey's years since I last made a cake. The next one I make will not be a Herman cake.

Very useful recipe, mysteryduck. I presume those are the general principles, so it doesn't look too complicated. Don't want to poison anyone!

A book or two sounds like the way forward. So, fermenting here I come. Thanks for the recommendations, guys.

[self-contained]

Sauerkraut is definitely an easy place to start. There are loads of good videos on YouTube. After seeing this thread, I've popped open some sauerkraut that's been sat on my kitchen worktop for at least seven months and had it stirred into pasta (with lots of other veggies and some vegetarian hot-dog style sausages) for the past couple of nights. So good :-)

[mysteryduck]

^Herman sounds like quite a lot of effort. Plus, it's donkey's years since I last made a cake. The next one I make will not be a Herman cake.

Very useful recipe, mysteryduck. I presume those are the general principles, so it doesn't look too complicated. Don't want to poison anyone!

A book or two sounds like the way forward. So, fermenting here I come. Thanks for the recommendations, guys.

That’s exactly how I do it it’s based on a recipe from the book I recommended. You can add ginger if you want (I’m not a fan) and some people add rice flour (to thicken and possibly help the process?), but I don’t bother. I’ve tried a few other recipes but this works best for me. Works every time

[Snoop Puss]

^Brilliant. Thanks.

[gringo]

My missus is Korean - she tells me that every family has their own recipe for kimchi. She'll make a (small) batch of her granny's recipe (granny ~90yo) about four times a year (utilising the special Korean cayenne chilis I grow and dry for her every year - go me!!!). I've always wanted to video her technique but she's a bit camera shy unfortunately. She likes her kimchi 'young' - hence she'll eat it within a month - or OLD (1y+) which you can only really do if you have an extended family helping you to make it in a bath-sized container plus a supersized kimchi fridge to store it all in, for a year! There are 'cheat' kimchis that she makes too, with deulkkae/kaemip (Korean perilla), but they tend to be devoured immediately without any (or much) fermentation.

I've always found it odd, that she despises salty food, but will (without thinking) utilise 500g sea salt to make about 500g kimchi!

(even the mini-process will take 3 days spare time)