Cider & fermentation & Kimchi

[Joost Schuttelaar]

Hi James!

> You definitely need to use unpasteurized cider if you don't
> press your own.  

Can't find it, unfortunately! Last year the supermarket used to have fresh, unpasteurized apple juice in the fridge. But not anymore...

> If you try it relying on the wild yeast in the cider, you
> are going to have mixed luck.  At times, there are not enough yeasts in
> the cider to compete with the inevitable bacteria and it will go rancid
> instead of fermenting.

Yeah, I also had a go at making some mead, but exactly this happened. It just became sour, sour, sour... lactic acid :) I got some champagne yeast lying around so next batch I'll try that :)

> If you
> let it ferment all the way through, it will be very dry.  I use a
> yeasticide to nuke it when it done fermenting and then back sweeten with
> honey and a little frozen apple juice concentrate.

Half of the bottles I made I just used the very dry cider (I don't mind!). For the second half I added a jar of honey, and a bit of sorbitol. The honey of course fermented away, but the sorbitol gives a bit of sweetness. Evil chemicals! :)

> I'd love to hear your kimchee recipe.  I've made some in the past but
> nothing that I'm super happy with.  I'm making sauerkraut this weekend.
> Can't get enough of that during the winter!

Nice! OK, my kimchi recipe:

1) Get a nice napa cabbage. Wash it and chop it up coarsely. Soak the cabbage overnight in brine (water + salt). The brine should be quite salty, but not too crazy. Say half as salt as seawater. Keep the brine!

2) Blend an onion, half a garlic bulb, as much ginger as you like (from none to a cubic inch) together with some fish sauce. When the paste is smooth, add a ton of red chili flakes (the Korean kind, without the seeds). If this is your second batch of kimchi, add some kimchi juice from your previous batch to jump-start the fermentation process.

3) Optional: Cut up some radish and carrot, finely. Say one winter carrot and half a daikon radish.

4) Cut up a bunch (e.g. 3) of green onions. If small, more!

5) Mix all the above ingredients in a big bowl. Yum. You can add some of the brine to make it easier to mix. The paste should become quite liquidly. Too dry and it won't ferment but will just become bitter and nasty.

6) Get a Vacu Vin Coffee Saver [*]. This is the magic trick to make it easy... Pack the ingredients tightly and top up with brine. Keep about 3CM free from the top.

7) Vacuum seal, and put it on the counter for two, three days. It will start fermenting soon, and pop open and probably leak... just suck the air out and close it up again. Taste whenever you want. When it's bubbly and tart, put it in the fridge. Done!

[*] Vacu Vin Coffee Saver, affiliate link warning! :) http://www.amazon.com/Vacu-Vin-Coffee-Saver-Starter/dp/B000XR2GMK?tag=jsnl-20

I'm gonna make some new kimchi tomorrow or the day after tomorrow and will post some pictures :)

-- 

Joost Schuttelaar
The Hague, NL