Sprouts!

Spring has come, and with it promises of birth, re-birth and growth. Whether you call it Easter, Passover, or Ostara’s month, this is a time that people have celebrated since long before recorded history. In 4 days time, April 8, many Buddhists celebrate the Buddha’s Birthday, and if you go to any of the major botanical gardens here you will see monks coming to appreciate the beauty of springtime flowers and greenery.



The Earth has celebrated Spring long before there were people. This has always been a time of renewal and rebirth. Animals and plants, dormant in winter, now spring forth to grow and mate; this is lambing and calving season. Seeds scattered in fall and winter now sprout and grow.

To me, sprouts symbolize the promise of rebirth that is Spring. Seeds are amazing things. There have been wheat seeds found in Egyptian tombs, 2,000 years old, that have successfully sprouted. The resulting wheat is now being grown in fields throughout the Middle East today.

The nutrients in seeds are relatively difficult to digest, and this is intentional. Sugars and other nutrients are converted to starches and proteins that are harder for insects and bacteria to eat. When the germ is exposed to the right conditions it produces enzymes to unlock the food stored in the seed, converting it back into sugars and nutrients to help the seed start its new life.

So in my head, seeds are like a fairy tale. The little germ is a slumbering princess, and the seed is a magic box which only the princess can open. The princess awakens to loving warmth, opens the box, uses the magic in that box to grow and prosper.

Sprouts, due to this magical alchemy of enzymes, have many nutrients and amino acids in a form that is easier for us to digest and may not be present in the mature plant, or if present are indigestible to us. For instance, I’m making bean sprouts this week. The sprouting process makes the beans easier to digest and the sprout part is tasty and filled with good nutrition. If I let the sprout mature I doubt that it will be tasty or nutritious. I simply don’t have the intestinal fortitude to eat a mature bean plant. This makes the sprout the best of both worlds.



Almost any kind of seeds can be used. This time I’ve used mung beans, but lentils, soybeans, or any other bean can be used. Alternatively you can sprout alfalfa, radish, cabbage…virtually anything. Each has its own flavor and texture: Bean sprouts tend to be fat and juicy, alfalfa light and nutty, radishes and onions are a little spicy, etc. You can sprout different kinds of seeds together to make a sprout salad.

Of course we can grow sprouts all year round. They are simple to do, just a few seeds, a little warmth and a little water is all it takes.

…Oh, and a jar.

Sprouts need air, so I needed to make a little modification. I went to a hardware store and bought a couple feet of screen mesh, the kind you see for windows or screen doors. 2 feet of screen mesh cost me .99 per foot, and I got 2 feet of it in case I messed up. I cut a strip out of this mesh with kitchen shears and cut the strip into squares about the size of my jar lid. Then I simply used the sealer part of the lid as a template, holding it firmly against the screen and cutting around the lid until I had a more or less uniform circle that would fit nicely inside the lid. I made 8 of these mesh screens, and have enough material left over to make 40-50 more.



Alternatively, you can buy ready-made plastic or metal screen lids. I found them online for about a buck apiece, which is not a budget breaker, but making them myself was so easy and inexpensive; if I’d ordered them online I’d have to wait for them to arrive. You could also use cheesecloth, but I wanted something that I could reuse over and over again.

The next step is soaking the seeds. Most seeds need to be soaked for half a day to a day. I put the mung beans into the jar, put the mesh in place, and filled the jar with water. Then about 12 hours later I drained the water. At this point it is a good idea to put them in a strainer and select out any “bad” seeds—broken seeds, shriveled ones, etc.

Remember that sprouts are like popcorn. Once they start sprouting they will grow, so until you have done a few batches, use less than you think you need. I recommend about 1-2 tbsp of seeds, depending on type and size of jar. With mung beans, 2 tablespoons will sprout to fill a quart jar.

Put the seeds back into the jar. Once or twice a day, rinse the beans by pouring water in, let sit for a couple minutes, and pour the water back out. Do not shake the beans, as that can damage fragile sprouting roots and stalks, but gently roll the jar to move the beans around for maximum exposure to both water and air.

In a day or two you should see sprouts. First come the little root, then the stalk and leaves. Once they are ready you can refrigerate them to slow their growth. Sprouts are best eaten fresh.



Okay, so now you have a jar of sprouts…what do you do with them? You can eat them plain, put them into salads, scramble with eggs, stir fry them, add to sandwiches, put them into soup, pickle them, use them as a garnish…the list is nearly endless. I do not recommend them on ice cream, but other than that their uses are limited only by your imagination.

Where I live, sprouts are cheap and plentiful. I can walk into any supermarket and by a package of sprouts for next to nothing. In the Asian markets they sell huge bags of soybean sprouts for a few dollars. It’s almost as cheap to buy them as to grow them myself. So, given how cheap and common they are, why would I bother to grow them? I have two reasons:

First, like any home grown produce, it’s tastier. I think my homegrown sprouts have more flavor, and are therefore more nutritious. I believe it’s because I take more individual care with a smaller batch, and the sprouts respond to my much more individualized care and attention (and affection.) There is much less chance of contamination with home grown bean sprouts (recently some bean sprouts were pulled from shelves due to salmonella.) Also, I can buy a greater diversity of seeds for sprouting than are often available in the local store.

Second, it’s fun! I am a 44 year old man, but when I see the first little sproutlings, I am a kid again, marveling at the miracle of life. It is a beautiful thing to watch the tiny plants sprout and grow. It makes me happy to watch and contemplate the marvelous thing that is life, birth, and rebirth. I know a lot of the science behind what is happening, and to me that simply makes it more amazing, more miraculous, not less.

It’s a real life fairytale that has been enacted and reenacted countless trillions of times for billions of years. It’s happening right now, all around us …And we are a part of that tale.

Whatever you call this season, however you celebrate it, be sure to stop and look at the tiny miracles happening all around you…and share with your loved ones.

Kim Chi--Radish Kim Chi

I remember when I first set eyes on an Asian radish. I was accustomed to European style radishes, which are small and cute and pink. These radishes are huge and kind of scary looking! Korean radishes (like the one shown here) are regularly 3-5 pounds, much larger than a large baking potato. There are some species of daikon that can reach up to a hundred pounds.



The flavor is a little milder than that of their European cousins, crispy and a little sweet. There are many ways that it’s used. In spring they are eaten young and fresh. They can be made into soups, sliced or grated into salads, stir fried, stewed…and of course pickled. Throughout Asia there are a variety of radish pickles, but today I’m talking about Korean style radish kim chi. I often like to make a lunch of just radish kim chi and rice. It’s surprisingly filling.

This recipe is very similar to last week’s recipe. The main difference is in technique. I like to add a little bit of mirin or rice wine. For this recipe I used the white and green Korean radish, but daikon can be substituted.

Per radish:

1 or 2 tsp salt (to taste)
Korean red pepper flakes to taste, approximately 4 tbsp.
One or two green onions, minced
Asian chives, minced
1-3 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 tbsp dashi or fish stock (optional)
1 tbsp sugar (optional)
2-3 tbsp mirin or rice wine (optional)

Peel the radish and cut into roughly bite sized pieces.


Salt the radish well, mixing it to make sure that all surfaces are salted. Allow to sit for a couple hours.

After the radishes have sat for a bit and started to soften, add the other ingredients and mix well.

Pack into jars as well as possible and tighten the lids. You will most likely have the radish sticking up out of the liquid at this point and need an extra jar or two. Let sit overnight.

The next day open the jars and redistribute the radish slices. Chances are if you used three jars yesterday you can redistribute the contents of one jar between the other two. Press down the radish so it is completely or nearly completely submerged in the liquid.

In this recipe, fermentation happens very quickly and very vigorously. You will want to open the jars every day for the first few days to allow gas to escape. Even though the radish starts out exposed to air in the jars, the fermentation protects the radish from contamination. Naturally, as with all fermented foods, keep an eye on it, smell it, and taste it to make sure that it is fermenting correctly. This version is ready in a couple days to a week depending on the weather. It doesn’t keep as long as the cabbage kim chi so I recommend refrigerating if you plan to keep it longer than a month.

This is a good recipe to start in a larger container and press in the traditional manner. However, this IS Life in a Jar, and this is the method I first used with great success. Part of my purpose in creating this blog is to demonstrate how easy these techniques are, and that it doesn’t take a lot of time nor fancy (read “expensive”) equipment to create wonderful and healthy fermented foods. If I can do this in my humble bachelor’s kitchen with just a few jars, then anyone can do it…YOU can do it, and I hope that you are inspired to try these techniques if you haven’t yet. You will be glad you did.

Thank you very much for reading. In later posts I will explore different techniques and recipes with radishes because they are so tasty and versatile. Next week, I’ll be going in a slightly different direction and start discussing sprouts.

But for now, it's lunchtime:

Kim Chi--Cabbage Kim Chi

As I mentioned last week, kim chi (or kim chee or gimchee or however you choose to spell it) is the national dish of Korea. To be sure, Koreans have been making the stuff for about 3,000 years, so they’ve had a bit of time to perfect it.

Originally, kim chi was vegetables like radish and cabbage fermented in beef stock. Over time the beef stock was replaced with salt and the variety of vegetables increased. Near the coast seafood was often added. Sometime in the 1700s peppers from the New World made their way into Korea. The first written reference to chili peppers in kim chi dates to around 1776, and modern kim chi was born.

There are literally thousands of variations of kim chi. The Kim Chi Field Museum documents 186 varieties of kim chi, and every region has its own style. Also, each family has their own recipes. Kim chi varies according to season and what crops are available. Fermentation times also vary, from one day to several months. One thing I’ve learned about kim chi is that it’s really hard to generalize it. Kim chi is often made with Korean peppers and very spicy, but there are many varieties of “white” kim chi that are not spicy. Kim chi can also be sweet, and there are many kinds that include fruit. Often sea food is added, which adds to the complexity and nutritional value. Kim chi also figures prominently in Korean cooking: soup, stews, crispy pancakes, fried rice, etc. One thing is very clear: whether spicy or mild, sweet or sour, complex or simple, kim chi truly is a national treasure.

Today, kim chi is still very important to Korea and Koreans. It is perceived as a very healthy food and is present at virtually every meal. Government researchers studying its benefits have found a correlation between kim chi consumption and protection from the recent outbreaks of SARS and Bird Flu. Do I believe it? You bet I do! The vitamin C and other nutrients in healthy foods like cabbage, radish, garlic, and chili peppers helps boost the immune system, while the various bacteria in the fermentation process actively defend their territory (in this case their territory is you.)

Koreans are the largest per capita consumers of chili peppers in the world, much of it in their kim chi. Modern Koreans have a variety of pre-made kim chi to choose from but often make their own. When I go to the local Korean market, all the makings are available in abundance. For urban and suburban Koreans who do not have a place to bury the crocks in traditional fashion, there are special refrigeration units to keep the fermenting kim chi at the ideal temperature.

This picture from the Kim Chi Museum shows traditional kim chi storage urns and a modern kim chi refrigerator.

When Koreans are taking pictures and want people to smile, instead of saying “Cheese”, they say “Kim Chee!”

…and they very well have reason to smile.

This week my recipe is my take on cabbage kim chi. This is a relatively simple recipe that I’ve adapted from a number or different recipes I’ve tried. in later postings I’ll explore other more complex techniques. I made this recipe for my Korean Dahn Yoga instructor, who seemed to like it. She ate it some of it straight but also made a soup with it. If you cannot find Korean red pepper flake I would recommend using a medium heat dried pepper, crushed by hand, or minced fresh peppers to taste. The dashi (fish stock) is optional, as is the sugar.

INGREDIENTS:

Napa cabbage, one or more heads

Per head of cabbage:

1 or 2 tsp salt (to taste)

Korean red pepper flakes to taste, approximately 4 tbsp.

One or two green onions, minced

Asian chives, minced

1-3 cloves garlic, minced

¼ cup dashi or fish stock (optional)

1 tbsp sugar (optional)

1. Cut cabbage into quarters and rinse well. Allow to drain.

2. Slice cabbage into small slices, put into a pot or other container, and add salt and dashi to taste.

3. While letting cabbage “sweat”, slice up other vegetables and mix with the cabbage.

4. Add the red pepper and sugar.

5. Mix well with your hands, gently squeezing the cabbage. Pack tightly into canning jars and screw lid tightly.

Within a day or two fermentation will be apparent. Occasionally open the lid to let the built up gas to escape and sample the kim chi. This recipe is ready to eat within 24 hours, or can be aged for several weeks to develop flavor. It should keep unrefrigerated for at least a month. Often I will make a light meal of kim chi and rice, or I will add it to some other dish for a bit of pizzaz.

Next week I'll post my recipe for radish kim chi. Stay tuned!

Sauerkraut, Part 3--Culture

There are many negative things I can say about Los Angeles, but there is one thing I LOVE about living here: There is a tremendous cultural diversity to this place. L.A.’s culture is best defined as global rather than local.

Within walking distance of my suburban apartment there is a supermarket that caters to Middle Easterners and Russians with an Armenian bakery inside, separate Middle Eastern and Russian markets, a Vietnamese market, a Korean market, a Japanese market, a couple of Indian markets (specializing in different regions of India) several Latino markets (both Mexican and Central/South American) and a Ralphs.

If I decide to go to a restaurant I have a similar pick: Vietnamese pho? Across the street, next to the Thai place that is next to the Chinese restaurant…Mexican (which region do you want?) El Salvadorian, Brazillian, Argentinian, Indian, Armenian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Thai, Russian, Hungarian, Romanian, Middle Eastern, Southern Comfort foods…you name it, and it’s within a short walk, bike, or bus ride from me. For example, there’s a mini mall near here which has an excellent Japanese ramen restaurant, a Chinese fast food buffet, a Persian kabob place, and a French bakery. Next to these is a Jewish Kosher store and restaurant.

When I go to a Farmer’s Market, I see many exotic fruits and vegetables grown locally. Local farmers get a boost from growing foods that are too expensive or too perishable to ship halfway around the world. They are able to survive because they have found their niche markets. I still come across produce I’ve never seen before and often don’t have a clue as to how to prepare.

One thing that ALL of these different cultures have in common is that they have a tradition of cultured and fermented foods. Breads, alcoholic beverages, pickles, cheeses, misos, condiments…and sauerkraut.


It’s well known the Korean National Dish is kim chi, a (usually) spicy cabbage and/or radish or turnip sauerkraut dish. There are many variations and I will be discussing kim chi greater detail in later blogs. Koreans generally will serve at least one or two versions of kim chi with a meal, or simply by itself with some rice.



The Japanese version, Tsukemono, is a term that applies to a wide variety of pickles, including pickled cabbage. In many Japanese homes a meal is considered incomplete without a little bit of Tsukemono for flavor and to aid digestion. Tsukemono can be sophisticated and subtle, or it can be very simple and bold.


All across China and most of Asia there are a wide variety of sauerkrauts and krautlike dishes. These can range from very plain and basic to very spicy depending on the region’s crops and cuisine.

Here are large urns for making the pickled cabbage:


And here's a sample of the finished product:



Many Eastern European countries depend on sauerkraut for health and survival. Germans, Hungarians, Czechs, Poles, Russians, etc. all have traditions of making sauerkraut and sauerkraut dishes. I have been to Jewish and German delis that don’t make their own pickles and kraut…but not twice.


Sauerkraut, like a large city, benefits from cultural diversity. At beginning stages of fermentation there are certain bacteria that begin the fermentation process. A few days later other bacteria such as lactobacilli start developing, giving sauerkraut it’s distinctive flavor. All told, in different stages of the fermentation process there can be dozens bacteria species living and doing their thing. This gives sauerkraut a more complex flavor and nutritional profile.

You also benefit from this cultural diversity. Inside the average human digestive system are about a TRILLION bacteria, representing about a thousand species. There are literally more bacteria cells inside you than human cells. All of these bacteria interact with each other and with you in different ways. Picture yourself as a gigantic biosphere, as diverse as any rainforest or coral reef. What you eat affects the bacteria inside you. This in turn affects your health. The bacteria in sauerkraut helps to bring your digestive system to a healthy PH balance and defend against dangerous bacteria that can cause food poisoning.

When you take a probiotic pill, you are generally introducing or reinforcing only one strain of bacteria, in a weakened and dormant state, into a vast microscopic jungle. This is like being set down in the middle of a wilderness, injured and starving, with only the clothes on your back and a knife. The diversity you get when eating sauerkraut is more like being set down in that same wilderness, only now you have a few hundred of your friends with you, tools and supplies.

Since making and eating my own sauerkraut and other cultures I have very little in the way of stomach problems. I always used to keep antacids and other stomach remedies handy, but for the past 3-4 years I haven’t needed any. The diverse, naturally occurring probiotics that I grow in my little jars keeps me healthy and also seems to strengthen my entire immune system.

Speaking of culture, my recipe this week is from my own cultural heritage. In honor of St. Patrick’s day I’m making corned beef and sauerkraut. Now, I know what a lot of you are saying: “Don’t you know that corned beef and cabbage isn’t really an Irish tradition? …And what’s this about sauerkraut?” I know that in Ireland it would be pork, possibly a rasher of Irish bacon or perhaps some trotters. Also, I’ve looked hard and I can’t find any references to Irish sauerkraut or recipes using sauerkraut anywhere. Well, this may not be an Irish tradition, but it IS an Irish-American tradition, and it is my tradition. I’m not an Irishman. I’m a non-Catholic Scots/Irish/Swedish/Norwegian/Estonian-American, and if ye be comin’ to me Dimity with a dram o’ Poteen, this is what ye’ll be havin’ wi’ yer praties!



I barely need to outline the recipe and procedure as it’s very simple, but here it is:

Ingredients:

1 medium sized corned beef brisket
One or two jars or cans of sauerkraut, with or without the juice (if a milder flavor is desired, omit the juice)
One or two onions, quartered and sliced not too small
One or two potatoes (optional, this time I wasn’t in the mood and didn’t add them) peeled and sliced into large pieces
Carrots (optional, normally I don’t add them, but I had a couple in the fridge)
Green onions, cut (not a normal ingredient, but again, I had some in the fridge, so into the pot they went)
Cooking sherry (again, not normally used, but I had a half bottle left over)
Several cloves garlic, minced.
Mustard seed, about 1-2 tsp.
Sour cream (Optional, to be put in at the end)
Paprika, to taste

Put about half the sauerkraut and other veggies in the bottom of your crock pot to make a bed for your brisket. Add the brisket and the rest of the veggies and mustard seed. Add cooking sherry and water to cover. Turn on crock pot, cook on low 6-8 hours or on high 4-6 hours. Sit back and enjoy the aroma wafting through your home!

When ready, serve in a bowl with a bit of the broth. If desired add a little sour cream and paprika. Keep some mustard handy.

When I was a wee lad we’d often have corned beef and cabbage, not only on St. Patty’s day. It would be cooked in a crock pot or on the stove and served simply with potatoes and/or carrots and onion. My father would keep telling me that the only way to eat it was slathered in mustard, but I hated mustard. He could never believe I didn’t like it that way and keep trying to convince me to eat it with mustard. Now, nearly 40 years later, I LOVE mustard and put it on a lot of stuff, and I’d never dream of having corned beef without mustard!

For the next week I’ll be making sandwiches and hash from the corned beef itself, and not only having the broth and cabbage by itself, but using it as a base for other dishes. Tonight I’m going to have it “Paprikash” style, with sour cream and plenty of paprika in the Hungarian tradition.

However you celebrate St. Patrick's, when everybody is Irish for a day, wishing you all the best and I offer this traditional Irish toast:

May the road rise to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the sun shine warm upon your face
May the rains fall soft upon your fields
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of his hand.

Sauerkraut, Part 2--History

The story of sauerkraut is really the history of the cultivation and spread of cabbage. Evidence seems to indicate that cabbage began in the Mediterranean. To be sure, the Romans ate cabbage. The word “salad” comes from “Sal”, which means salt. Romans were fond of putting salt on their raw greens…salted greens? Sounds like sauerkraut to me!

However, I’m going to start with China, where cabbage has been cultivated for about 4,000 years. When the Great Wall of China was being built, some 2,000 years ago, the laborers were fed cabbage fermented in rice wine. Work on the Wall was certainly arduous, and many of the locations were remote. A food supply was needed that would keep and travel well.

When Genghis Khan invaded China about 1,000 years later, he adopted this fermented cabbage, added salt, and was so happy with it, that he gave it to his army to spread the good news about this nutritious and tasty food.

Pictured here is a band of Mongols, getting ready to bring the joys of sauerkraut to YOUR town:

The Mongols invaded a huge chunk of Asia and parts of Eastern Europe. Sauerkraut gave the soldiers a “sour” attitude and they were famous for both their speed and rapaciousness. From the parts of Europe that the Mongols invaded, the Jews as they migrated are credited with spreading sauerkraut making throughout Europe and Russia.

In Europe, especially in colder climates, cabbage was a popular crop. It was easy to cultivate, thrived in cooler climates, and it kept well in winter. Cabbage was a staple for many farmers, and continues to be one today. Making the cabbage into sauerkraut made it more nutritious and last longer, crucial for surviving the cold harsh winters of Russia and Eastern Europe.

I should note that although Jews are noted for sauerkraut and pickles, I’m not at all certain that they got the knowledge from the Mongols, nor am I certain that the Germans or Russians got it from the Jews. There certainly seems to be a connection, so I don’t discount it, and it makes a good story. Cabbage, salt, and a container are all that is required, and salt has been used as a food preservative for tens of thousands of years. It's possible that the culturing of sauerkraut occurred spontaneously in several places, but it is certain that as these human cultures moved and interacted that they would have influenced each other and shared techniques, plants, recipes, etc.

Sauerkraut is a great source of vitamin C, and when the Dutch and Germans went exploring on the high seas, they took sauerkraut with them to prevent scurvy. The British learned to do the same thing, but later switched to limes which I suppose were plentiful in some of their territories (plus I'm sure that the sauerkraut was adulterating the delicate flavor and texture of that wonderful British hardtack.) As the British switched to limes, they became known as “limeys”. The Dutch and Germans continued to carry sauerkraut and were known as “krauts.”

In the Americas, sauerkraut was brought by Germans, who became known as the Pennsylvania Dutch. The Pennsylvania Dutch and the Amish are still known for their krauts and pickles. Soon after came Jews with their excellent versions, and later came Eastern Europeans, also with their great versions. Who makes the best? Depends on who you talk to.

Due to food rationing during the World Wars, sauerkraut was very important in the U.S. as a means of stretching food value. Of course, it wasn't called sauerkraut...it was called "Liberty Cabbage." So, a "frankfurter with sauerkraut and french fries" would become the more patriotic "Liberty Dog with a side of Freedom!"

All American Victory Victuals! Yum!

The history of sauerkraut is a living history. It is a story of a relationship between people and plants, people and beneficial bacterial cultures, and between people and other people. In tracing sauerkraut from Ancient China to Europe and the Americas, I'm only touching on the tiniest fraction of this story. It is an amazing and personal story. Since most cultures have some sort of fermentation tradition, chances are that I am talking about YOU. Whether you are of European, Asian, or African descent, your parents most likely didn’t make sauerkraut or pickles, but your grandparents or great grandparents CERTAINLY did. If you go back a generation or two, you’ll find members of your family that made sauerkraut, pickles, yogurt, wine, etc. Our personal relationship with these cultures and history is intrinsic to human survival, but that is for another blog.

My recipe for this week I’ve decided to call “Genghis Jim’s Mongolian Horde Kraut.” It’s inspired of my reading about sauerkraut being fed to laborers working on the Great Wall 2,000 years ago and Genghis Khan's later assault of that Wall and his invasion of China. I started out by trying cabbage in rice wine and mirin, which was a little soggy and flat. I then added some salt, which helped, but it still needed something. Even 2,000 years ago the Chinese had herbs and spices. Also, Genghis Khan would have had access to herbs and spices from throughout the world. This recipe is not meant to be an accurate representation of an ancient sauerkraut recipe, but rather is my tribute to a period of history. I have mostly tried to keep accurate to ingredients that would have been available, but I think Mr. Khan would have liked chili peppers if they were available. This is a spicy blend that will get you going and ready to scale whatever Great Wall lies in front of you. I invite you to try it and hope you enjoy!


INGREDIENTS
1 or more heads of Chinese (Napa) cabbage, chopped
Per head of cabbage:
1 or 2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 or 2 green onions, chopped
1 small bunch of chives, garlic chives if available (optional)
1 or two carrots and/or radishes , grated (optional)
2 to 4 tablespoons rice wine, mirin, or sherry
Chinese black or white pepper (or fresh ground black pepper) to taste
5 spice powder to taste (or you can add star anise, ground cinnamon, and ground cloves)
Korean red pepper flakes or a small hot pepper cored and chopped (optional)
Salt to taste, about 2 tsp per head.

Chop cabbage and put into a pot. Add salt and mix it with your hands thoroughly. Taste it—it should be salty. Let it sit and “sweat” while chopping the other veggies.



Add the other vegetables and mix thoroughly. Then add spices, mixing and tasting it. Add the wine until you are satisfied with the blend of flavor.



Pack tightly into canning jars as per my instructions in my previous post. Seal and leave it for a week or so to ferment. Sample occasionally until it’s fermented to your satisfaction. This should keep for several months unrefrigerated.

Thank you for reading. Next week I’ll discuss sauerkraut and human culture and present another recipe or two.

He looks hungry!

Sauerkraut, Part 1--The basics

I have a confession to make: I never did like sauerkraut. I never could understand why someone would do that to perfectly good cabbage…Until I started making it myself. I’d like to say it’s because my tastes matured, and that’s certainly part of it. I’d been reading about sauerkraut, thinking about the wonders of fermentation and was now ready to look at it with a much more open mind.

I think it’s also kind of like the guy who hates children…until he becomes a daddy. Now all children are special, but of course HIS kid is the best!

As I’ve learned more about fermentation I’ve come to appreciate foods like sauerkraut, and of course (to me) mine is the best! I eat some every day. I love its sour, crunchy, cabbage-y goodness. I credit my fondness for sauerkraut and other fermented foods with a dramatic improvement in my overall health over the past few years.

So, what IS sauerkraut, anyway? In its simplest form, It is chopped cabbage that has been salted and allowed to ferment. Generally this is done in a barrel or crock with a weight to press down the sauerkraut. However, this is Life in a Jar, not Life in a Barrel, so I am going to show how I’ve adapted it to making it in a canning jar.

The following recipe is the most basic recipe, and it really is extremely simple. There are only two ingredients! After describing the process I’ll explain a little of what is going on. Over the next few weeks I’ll give some historical and cultural background along with some (hopefully) intriguing variations on this basic recipe. After that I’ll address kim chi.

If you’ve never made sauerkraut before, I recommend you try this simplest method first. It’s cheap and easy to do and even if you’ve never been a fan of sauerkraut before you might learn to love this basic and healthy food as I have.

Ingredients:

1 or more heads of cabbage (green, red, or napa)

Salt, preferably non-iodized (kosher, sea salt, etc.) a few tbsp per head of cabbage.

Equipment:

Canning jars with lids and seals, quart and/or pint size

A large pot, tub, or bowl

1. Cut up your cabbage. I usually start by cutting into quarters uncored (I just cut the brown parts off.) Next you can cut it as fine or coarse as you wish. I like to cut it into pieces large enough to be interesting on a fork but small enough to pack easily into a jar.

2. Place cut cabbage into pot, tub, or bowl. Add salt, mixing it with your hands to coat the cabbage completely. Taste the cabbage. It should be salty. If it doesn’t taste salty enough, add a little more salt. At this point you can add other spices if you wish. Press and squeeze the cabbage a little bit to help rub in the salt and get it “sweating.” Once the cabbage is salted, some people let it sit for a little while, from 20 minutes to overnight.

3. Pack the sauerkraut-to-be into your jar(s.) Pack it in a bit tight, pushing it down. Fill jars right to the top. Any liquid in the container should be poured in as well. Seal the jars.

IMPORTANT: Be certain to completely fill your jars as much as possible. A gap in the top of up to an inch is okay, but no half filled jars! A half full jar will run risk of contamination, and contamination is just simply no fun. There are three things you can do with your extra cabbage: 1. Graduate to a smaller jar (i.e. from a quart to a pint); 2. Save the cabbage in a container for a few days and then stuff it into the other jar(s) as they start to “settle.” 3. Eat it. You can eat it plain, or stir fry or in a soup or on a sandwich. I generally do some combination of these three tactics.

Once your jars are sealed, place them in a quiet place for a few days. Check on it: when you open the jar it should “hissssss” from gas escaping. Taste a little bit…It’s not gonna bite you. After about three days it’ll start getting a little “tang” to the flavor. In a week it should be pretty sour, depending the temperature. Here in Southern California it’s officially sauerkraut after about a week. Well sealed it should continue to develop for months. You can keep sampling it, deciding how fermented you like it. Fermentation can be slowed by putting it in a refrigerator.

VARIATIONS/ADDITIONS: I like to add Korean red pepper flake and/or cracked black pepper. Try your favorite spices or spice blends. Caraway seeds and fresh cut dill are tasty, and you can try any fresh herbs that strike your fancy (I have not had great results with dried herbs, but maybe that’s just me.) You can grate carrots, beets, radishes, or mince some garlic, onion, chives, leeks, fennel etc. I understand that many people slice apple into it, and I see how that could work nicely, but I haven’t personally tried it.

I’ve explained the procedure, but what is happening here? Very simply we are encouraging some specific bacteria to develop, bacteria that is good for us. Let’s break it into the component parts and see what is happening:

1. The cabbage. Cabbage is a powerhouse of vitamins and minerals. It is an excellent source of vitamins K and C. Cabbage is also a very good source of dietary fiber, manganese, vitamin B6 and folate, and a good source of thiamin, riboflavin, calcium, potassium, vitamin A, tryptophan, protein and magnesium. Consumption of cabbage has been linked to reduction of breast and certain other cancers. Cabbages, like other plants (and animals and people) have resident inside them a variety of bacteria, such as lactobacilli, that during fermentation can make many of these nutrients, especially the minerals, easier for our bodies to absorb.

2. The salt. Salt has been used since the beginning of history as a preservative. Here it serves two functions: It inhibits the growth of “bad” bacteria, allowing the beneficial bacteria to thrive. It also helps the cabbage retain its crunchiness so that the mature sauerkraut has that distinctive “squeaky” crunch. Too much salt is not a good thing, but too little can end up with soggy sauerkraut that is likely to go bad more quickly. The balance of salt is something that varies and is dependent on personal taste. I recommend non-iodized salt as the iodine can add a slightly bitter flavor. If you don’t care about that, then go ahead and use iodized. I personally use a sea salt because I believe there are some extra essential minerals that the fermentation process makes easier to absorb.

3. The jar. As I said, traditionally sauerkraut is done in barrels or crocks and pressed to limit the amount of air the cabbage is exposed to. I have read warnings against using canning jars because of risk of contamination. Certainly one must be careful, but I’ve had only one jar go bad, and that jar was filled halfway, with too much exposure to air before the lactobacilli had a chance to fully propagate. Canning jars are cheap (less than $10 per dozen,) reusable, and it’s easy to get replacement lids and seals. Also, the seals on canning jars are designed to keep things out, but not in, so if too much pressure builds up the seal “blows” instead of the entire jar exploding. It is comforting to know that when the weather gets warm I don’t have a cupboard full of glass shrapnel grenades.

4. The bacteria. You can’t see them, but they take center stage in this show. They process the minerals and nutrients in the cabbage that are harder for us to assimilate and make them easier for to absorb. They also combine to produce nutrients such as vitamin B, making the cabbage a more complete food.

In the process of protecting itself, the lactobacilli create lactic acid making the distinctive sour flavor. This mimics the natural acidic environment of our gastrointestinal system, making it easier on our digestive system. Also, the living bacteria aids our body in digestion and helps protect against unfriendly bacteria that can cause food poisoning and other illnesses. The juice is also a good tonic, filled with vitamins and minerals and stuff. I drink it straight or mixed with vegetable juice.

Okay, so that’s the basics. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to send a comment. I will be happy to reply. Next week I’ll discuss history and give a couple more interesting recipes!

(Jim's) Spicy Jalapeno/Ginger Pickled Carrots!

About a year ago, I went to an Indian restaurant with a friend of mine. On the table were the usual little jars of condiments, chutneys, etc. One little jar contained chopped carrots marinated in a hot oil with sliced jalapenos. There was a hint of ginger to the flavor as well. We finished off that little jar and debated asking for more.

I decided to try replicating the recipe at home. Because I’m into fermentation and I’m leery of preserving things in oil (which can lead to anaerobic fermentation, something that can be a little dangerous) I decided to try duplicating this wonderful combination of flavors as a pickle. It didn’t take me too long to work out this very simple recipe for spicy jalapeno/ginger pickled carrots, although I did make a few mistakes along the way before realizing that in this case simplest was best.

I believe that this would make a great recipe for children because of its simplicity. Carrots can be a little tricky to cut so I recommend that an adult cuts the veggies or supervises carefully. Prepackaged carrot sticks would also work. Whole baby carrots would also be good.

If you don’t like ginger, you can omit it. If you don’t like jalapeno pepper, you can either omit it or use a bell pepper for milder flavor (or if you’re a hothead, you could substitute habaneros and/or add some cayenne.) I like to nibble on the jalapeno and ginger as well as the carrots. Mirin is a sweet asian rice wine used for cooking. I find adding a little mirin or sherry adds a little sweetness and complexity, but it’s certainly not necessary.

I should note that in my head this recipe is not Spicy Jalapeno/Ginger Pickled Carrots, but JIM’S Spicy Jalapeno/Ginger Pickled Carrots. I feel that this recipe is MINE, ALL MINE!! (Maniacal laughter) I came up with this recipe on my own, and I’m very happy with it. However, the truth is that the recipe is so simple that I’d be surprised if it isn’t also Linda’s/Betty’s/John’s/Toshio’s/Whoever’s Spicy Jalapeno/Ginger Pickled Carrots. Whatever. I definitely invite you to try this recipe and make it YOUR Spicy Jalapeno/Ginger Pickled Carrots. You’ll be glad you did and I promise I won’t tell. Now on to the recipe.



Per 2 pints or 1 quart:

Approximately 1 lb. carrots, peeled and cut into matchsticks

1 hand (meaning a whole root with it’s “fingers”) ginger, peeled and cut into strips

3-4 jalapeno peppers, cut either lengthwise

2 tablespoons mirin or cooking sherry (optional)

Whole peppercorns (optional)

5 tablespoons non-iodized salt.

First, make your brine. My brine formula for this recipe is 5 tablespoons salt per quart of water. I find I use about ½ quart of brine per quart in this recipe, but I usually make a full quart just in case. Put the salt into a quart jar, add a couple tablespoons of mirin or sherry, fill the jar with water, seal the jar and shake to dissolve the salt. Let it sit as you are preparing the other ingredients, shaking it occasionally. If you are using tap water, you may want to boil this mixture a bit to evaporate any chlorine.

Next, cut up your veggies. Whether using a quart jar or a couple pint jars, I measure my carrots against the jar. I usually cut them about to 3/4 of an inch shorter than the jar. You can cut them shorter, but I don’t recommend cutting them any longer, as you need to be sure to keep the carrots completely submerged in the brine.



A trick I picked up recently for peeling ginger from a cooking show on TV: use the back of a spoon to scrape the skin off. This works like a charm. When I saw the chef do this, I kind of did a facepalm because I’ve always had trouble with ginger and ended up throwing away about half of it in the peeling process.

Now, pack the carrots, jalapeno slices, and ginger into your jar. Turn the jar on its side and start packing them in, alternating them to make it attractive. Your goal here is to pack them in kind of tightly so that when you add the brine it remains submerged and doesn’t float to the top.



Once the jars are nicely packed, add the brine almost to the top, leaving about a ½ inch gap and seal the jars. Place jars where if the jars start to “blow” the water can drain harmlessly. I place them in a bowl or around the edge of my sink for about a week.

Fermentation should start in 1 to 3 days. Crack the lid once or twice a day to allow gasses to escape or leave the lid a little loose. The brine will get very fizzy. Don’t be alarmed; this is natural. After about 3 days you can start sampling the carrots. Carrots will take a week or two to fully develop.
These carrots are so tasty I don’t think you’ll have to worry about how long they’ll keep, but they should keep for at least three months.

Thank you for reading. Next week I’ll start discussing sauerkraut, and I’ll probably do several posts on that subject—history,anecdotes, practices…and of course recipes!

Kombucha Follow-Up

Okay, so here's a little follow up to last Sunday's post on kombucha, where I go into a bit more detail and hopefully answer some questions that I forgot to include in the first post.

First, I'm aware that my SCOBY picture is a little scary looking, so I've updated that with a little quick fix. I figured adding a smile to it might make it seem a little friendlier. Trust me, this is what the SCOBY would look like if it had a mouth to smile with:



In regards to preparing the tea:

The goal here is a strong, sweet tea. The sugar is what the SCOBY (Symbiotic Commnunity of Bacteria and Yeast) eats, and the tea provides essential nutrients to help keep the SCOBY healthy.

I've been asked if a sugar substitute is acceptable, such as Splenda. The short answer is no. The sugar is not for you, it's to feed the kombucha. If you want less sugar in your kombucha, then let it age longer; the yeasts will eat and process the sugar, making it less sweet. The yeasts and bacteria need real sugar of some sort in order to eat. Plain white sugar is the easiest for the SCOBY to process, so it ferments fastest and produces a good "clean" flavor. Right now I'm experimenting with honey, which is more complex and therefore produces a more complex flavor and nutrition profile. Later on I want to experiment with agave nectar and other natural sugar sources. I will certainly post my results. If you are just starting out, I recommend starting with white sugar.

My general formula is about 2 cups of sugar per gallon of water.

What kind of tea is best? Green tea, black tea, white tea, or a combination of teas all work fine. Because the different teas have different nutritional profiles, some kombucha brewers recommend a combination of black and green teas. This kind of makes sense in producing a healthy happy SCOBY, but some people use just one kind of tea with no problems.

I use a loose leaf tea, but tea bags work fine. I put a small handful of tea, or about 4-5 teabags per gallon. As in using wine for cooking, I recommend a decent quality "drinkable" tea, but you don't need to go crazy and get something very expensive. This is a situation where Lipton's, Tetley, or PG Tips is perfectly fine. I tend to use a tea called "Madame Butterfly" which I buy from a local coffee and tea place; it has a nice peach flavor to it, is not too expensive, and complements the natural kombucha flavor very well.

Length of time for fermenting varies with temperature and personal preference. After about a week, start sampling your kombucha. I use a clean turkey baster to draw up a small sample. The longer you let your kombucha ferment, the more tart the flavor becomes. I tend to let my kombucha ferment for at least 2 weeks at a stretch.

When the weather is warmer, the kombucha ferments faster. Also there are variations in flavor between a kombucha that is fermented in warmer temps than cooler ones. If I were producing kombucha for commercial purposes, I would want to keep my culture at a constant of about 85 degrees F for consistant flavor. Since I'm producing kombucha for personal consumption I really enjoy how every batch is different.

One other thing I'm doing with my kombucha is "racking" it. I set aside a quart or two of kombucha, put it in sealed bottles or jars and put it in a relatively cool dark place, aging it like wine. I wasn't sure if this would work or if I'd just end up with vinegar. So far the results are promising: The kombucha is becoming more wine-like, drier and pleasant. I've only been doing this for a month and this is an experiment that will take 6 months to a year. I will post later on the success (or lack thereof) of this technique. Kombucha wine? Oh yeah!

Kombucha!

Welcome to my first posting for Life in a Jar. This is my blog about fermentation and cultured foods. Most of these products can be done simply and easily, without much outlay in either time or money. Most of these products I do in canning jars, hence the name. It's also a metaphor for my life at this time, where I live in a small space, have limited travel ("You live in Los Angeles and you don't have a CAR?") yet I live a full, rich, and varied life. Now, on to my first posting...I'll try not to suck!

Today I started a new batch of kombucha.

Westerners have this beautiful knack for misnaming things...for 400 years we've been calling Native Americans "Indians" after a continent on the other side of the planet, and we continue this tradition with "kombucha" which is Japanese for "seaweed tea," a broth made from dried kelp that is fed to invalids. In Japan it's called "kōcha kinoko" ("Red tea mushroom".) Although I prefer the term "tea-kvass," I'm going to stick to the name "kombucha" as that's the term by which it is best known in the U.S. Who am I to buck tradition? It IS similar to Japanese kelp tea in that it has many health benefits (more on that below.)

Kombucha is drink made from sweet tea cultured with a kombucha SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast) which looks sort of like a big rubber pancake. Here's a rather scary picture of my SCOBY at rest waiting to be put into the new batch:



Here's a picture of the same SCOBY in a 2 gallon jar filled with tea that is ready for drinking:



Note the bubbles. This is a sign that this is an active culture and still fermenting.

Yesterday I boiled 2 gallons of water, added a couple of handfuls of green tea, a "hand" of sliced ginger, and 4 cups of honey. I allowed this to boil for about 10 minutes, then left it covered to cool overnight. Normally I use 2 cups of sugar per gallon instead of honey, but I am experimenting with the honey. Ginger is optional, and many people will tell you that ginger will kill the culture, but I've been adding ginger for nearly a year with no ill effect. Also, although flavored teas are considered bad for the culture, I've been using a blend called Madame Butterfly which is a peach flavored tea with great success (and flavor.)


Once the tea cooled to room temperature, I was ready to begin. I keep the kombucha for drinking in my refrigerator in a 2 gallon plastic water bottle with a spigot for easy decanting. I was nearly finished with the previous batch so I pulled it out, had one las glass of the old batch, and washed out the container.

I then opened up the jar with the fresh batch of fermenting kombucha. I pulled out the SCOBY and gently rinsed it. I poured the new kombucha into the plastic container, quickly washed out the jar, and poured the cooled tea into the glass jar.

I pulled off a bit of the kombucha SCOBY and put it into a jar with some of the fresh kombucha, sealing it tightly and putting it in the fridge. This is in case something goes wrong with the main culture (something that has only happened to me once in the past three years.)

I put the rest of the SCOBY (the "mother") into the jar with the tea. If you look at the picture above, you can see that I put cheesecloth over the top, and a plate upside down over the top. This is to prevent critters from getting in. Everything loves the kombucha and wants to get into it (except perhaps my cat.)

So, why do I do this? First and foremost I REALLY like the stuff. It has a sweet/tart flavor, similar to cider. There is delicate effervescence to it, as the process produces a gentle carbonation. I like it better than most sodas, and I can age it be as sweet or tart as I want it. It is chock full of vitamins like B and C as well as a cocktail of amino acids.

It's very cheap to produce. I can make two gallons of tasty kombucha for about the cost of a 12 oz can of Coke. I can make about 4 gallons for the cost of a 12 oz. bottle of commercially produced kombucha AND I know that the culture is alive and fresh.

Tasty AND healthy? Woo hoo! Cheap? BONUS!!

NOTES:

Kombucha is a living cultured food, and like all cultures, try a small amount at first. Although the bacteria in kombucha are generally considered good for digestion, some people may experience some upset if they imbibe to much the first time. If you've never had kombucha before, start with a small glass (say, about 4 oz.) and then try more later. I should mention I NEVER had any trouble with kombucha. Still, better safe than sorry.

Many people report miraculous results from drinking kombucha. Most of that info is anecdotal, and although I believe kombucha is very good for you and will have beneficial effects, I do not promise miracles. I DO promise a very tasty drink! The fact is that no real study of the benefits of kombucha have been done in about a century. The Russians and Germans at the beginning of the 20th century wrote about the benefits of kombucha in treating a variety of conditions. My personal belief is that because kombucha is full of healthy vitamins and amino acids, it had an overall effect of making people healthier, and a variety of conditions were helped as a result.

If you are interested in trying to brew your own kombucha, you can get a culture from a health food store, online, or find a kombucha discussion group, where you might find someone who will give you a culture for free. If you want a free culture from me, no problem. If you live outside my area I'll ask for a couple dollars for shipping.

How do I know when it's ready? Basically I start tasting it after a week. Nowadays I can tell just by smell. It's ready when it tastes as tart as you want it. I've seen where they sell PH strips so you can check it, but your tongue is the best way to tell. Remember, the longer you leave it, the tarter it will become.

If you wish to experiment with herbal or flavored tea, I recommend you always keep a spare kombucha on hand. Almost every time you brew kombucha it will peel off "babies" and I always keep a few in a sealed jar filled with kombucha in the refrigerator. I have in the past three years only had one batch go bad. I started over again with a culture that I'd kept in the fridge for over a year. You will hear about how delicate the culture is, but it's really very tough.

Lastly, remember that kombucha is a living thing. Think of it as a pet. Feed it, treat it with love and respect, and it will respond in kind, feeding and nourishing you.

Okay, that's my first blog! Hope you enjoyed it and got some interesting information from it. Please feel free to comment and critique.