All these recipes use a percentage of salt. If 1.6% salt is required, 1000g of veg would need 16g of salt. But you should always taste the raw mix anyway. 1.6% is the minimum I’ve gotten away with and experienced no spoiling. But this is in my climate (southern UK) and my house.
Basic principles of fermented cabbage
There’s plenty of shop-bought kimchi in Brighton but very few in eco-friendly packaging. So why not make your own?
- 100% red cabbage (loose, Infinity Foods)
- 25% wild garlic (wild, The Downs)
- 1.6% salt
- 1% red chilli (loose, Taj)
Chop everything and mix in the salt. Crush with your hands to get the juices flowing (if it’s a particularly tough cabbage you might need to use a pestle). Leave for ten minutes and repeat until there’s a good amount of liquid in the bottom of the bowl.
Pack into a glass jar leaving about 20% expansion space and close the lid.
Keep out of the sunlight, it should start to bubble by day two. Taste it after a week. Is it delicious? If so, eat on homemade bread with aioli.
The flavour profile evolves over the course of a few weeks. If you manage to not eat it all you’ll notice the taste drops off after a few weeks. If you really like the taste on a certain day move it to the fridge to slow it down.
Fermented salsa
- Two large tomatoes, coarsely chopped
- Half as much onion as toms, 5mm dice
- Two garlic cloves, finely chopped
- A few radishes, finely sliced
- One red chilli, finely sliced
The denser the vegetable the finer it needs cutting.
Put it all into a mixing bowl on a scale, add 1.6% of the weight of the veg in salt. Mush it between your fingers until mixed and quite liquid. Add to a jar, almost to the brim, pop the lid on and leave in a dark cupboard for up to a week. You can put it in a fridge if you like but the acidity should stop anything untoward occurring.
Put everything in a mixing bowl on a scale, add 1.6% of the weight of the veg in salt. Mush it between your fingers until mixed and quite liquid. Taste and then dd to a jar, almost to the brim, pop the lid on and leave in a dark cupboard for up to a week. You can put it in a fridge if you like but the acidity should stop anything untoward occurring.
Okraut
A experiment to see how okra behaves. The addition of okra makes it quite slippery! So possibly not for everybody. But still.
Beer and wine
Bison Brewery sell large refillable bottles of beer affectionately known as “growlers” from their shop on East Street. If purchasing beer from a supermarket then don’t choose those with six-pack rings. Ten packs come in a cardboard box with no plastic. Or go to the pub. Or brew your own!
Bottle cleaning
Use an abrasive like old rice and a few drops of washing up liquid.
See mowerdog’s video.