1y ago

Been practicing fermenting for the past year. This is my third attempt and I've gotten better

Third attempt in a year.

It's the right texture, but I'm still missing something. It's not as good as store bought, but good enough. And I'm working on improving that zest.

Kimchi sans fish sauce. Via https://www.liveeatlearn.com/how-to-make-kimchi/

19 comments

For fermentation in general, let me give you a few tips that may be tripping you up:
Don't wash ANYTHING in chlorinated water before going in the jar.
The salt type and granule size is very important.
Always calculate salt by total weight of the liquid + contents going in the jar
NEVER add chlorinated water to the vessel. NEVER EVER EVER
Some tips for Kimchi specifically:
Smash the garlic and let it sit for a few minutes before chopping or adding
Get the finest granule of pepper "flakes". Not the large flake kind meant for soups or stews. You want powder, practically. Deep red, and about the grain of table salt at max.
Mix your salt, sugar, pepper flakes, garlic and onion FIRST before adding them to your cabbage. A little bit of soy sauce or spring water for moisture. Let the mixture sit a good 30m to bloom before rubbing into the cabbage.
RUB THAT MIX ALLLLLL OVER EVERRRRRYTHING. When I say everything, that means every little nook and cranny of the cabbage. Squeeze the cabbage a bit while doing so to help release some moisture into the marinade.
Get a muddler to help smash and bruise the cabbage as it's going into your jar. You really want it packed tight, and smashing it as you go releases even more moisture into the mix, so by the time you've filled the jar, you should have enough volume to mostly cover the top
Get some weights for the top to make sure the last bits added are submerged.
Good luck.
- I assume by chlorinated water you mean most tap water?
  
  Anything from a municipal supply tends to be chlorinated, as opposed to water from your own well.
- #3 is accurate! I absolutely eyeballed my salt and hot sauce and did not do things correctly.
  Then Surprised Pikachu face when it got moldy.
- Soooo bottled water instead of tap to make a brine? Assuming the former has no chlorine while the latter does
  
  Distilled water does not have chlorine!
  With kimchi, I used very little water (only the amount the recipe suggests). The veggies I use( Chinese cabbage) contains a lot of water naturally and my batch always overflows once fermentation happens.
  
  You should search around, but depending on what your tap water contains you may be able to just use counter top filtered water if you let it stand for awhile. Bottle spring water is a safe bet though, and should have extra minerals in there to give a bit of a kick to the taste. Just like bread fermentation, it's all about the water source.
I've made kimchi before, but under the supervision of my mom. So I'm not exactly an expert.
To me it looks like your kimchi is too watery. After looking at the recipe I think I may know why. This is a vegan recipe, traditional kimchi not only has fish sauce, but it also has quite a bit of fermented shrimp brine.
It doesn't look like the recipe you linked has enough salt in the actual spice mix, traditional kimchi gets this from the shrimp. If you don't have enough salt, the marinade won't fully saturate the cabbage.
If you are trying to do a traditional vegan recipe I would suggest just doing This but substituting salt for the shrimp, and something like tamari or something with umami for the fish sauce.
I actually don't know if I would use that recipe, it seems low on both sugar and salt for preservation.
- You could also add some some extra veggies to help reduce overall moisture and kick the flavor up. Some recipes use Korean Pear or julienne carrots in place or reduction of sugar - both work great. Throw some thinly sliced Korean Radish in there for a little bit of bite, and you get that Kkakdugi bit when it's done. Lots of options.
  
  My mom always made a rice porridge with a ground up Korean pear in it for the sugar in her starter. Makes the paste really thick and sticky so it coats really well. I think it also gives the kimchi a bit of a kick, but I think my family likes stronger fermentation than most people.
I've always wanted to try making kimchee but it seems like such an ordeal lol I love the titles you gave each jar!
- It's really not too bad. You just need to get all the ingredients together and follow the steps. Cucumber kimchi is my favorite and pretty easy to make.
- I absolutely took a in-person workshop and then watched a dozen YouTube videos.
  My first batch was awful. Like putrid and rancid.
  My second one was edible!
Notorious KIM is hardbody 💪
Stay Calm and Kimchi-On! :)
I’m doing it in fits and starts and I’m liking the results more each time.

19 comments