The food thread

Before dinner, yesterday...
 

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My first batch of fermented pickles. I have always been nervous about fermenting foods. (What if it doesn't start? What if it all spoils? What if I don't like it?). Last year I bought a jar of fermented Polish dill pickles, and there was quite a bit of sediment in the jar, so I used a spoonful of that as a starter.
 

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(What if it doesn't start?
You can easily control that so your worries will be few. Add your starter, a little sugar and don't go too heavy on the salt to start.
There's also telltale signs if things are going wrong.
sediment in the jar, so I used a spoonful of that as a starter.
That's just dead yeast that came along for the ride and expired in the tank or jar. Nothing to worry about, in fact it's good for you.
For starter it's actually the liquid (Lactobacillus suspended in the lactic acid brine) that you want for the fermenting.
Hope they turned out to your liking. They look really good. Did you happen to use Alum? The colour looks nice and green for fermented.
 
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I used to make kimchi from scratch. It's not really hard, it can stink a lot on a hot day though.

The Koreans have specific refrigerators for their kimchi.

Nowadays we keep a large two gallon jar in the garage fridge and whenever we buy kimchi.... gallon size, we mix it up. Oh, another trick with kimchi... if you buy... when you bring it home let it breathe overnight... loosen the cap. Carefully.

I suppose we ought to try making pickles. The persian cucumbers at the store are the right size.
 
You can easily control that so your worries will be few. Add your starter, a little sugar and don't go too heavy on the salt to start.
There's also telltale signs if things are going wrong.

That's just dead yeast that came along for the ride and expired in the tank or jar. Nothing to worry about, in fact it's good for you.
For starter it's actually the liquid (Lactobacillus suspended in the lactic acid brine) that you want for the fermenting.
Hope they turned out to your liking. They look really good. Did you happen to use Alum? The colour looks nice and green for fermented.
No alum but nice fresh pickles. The starter definitely helped, the fermentation started very quickly. As you can see I added some carrot spears for a little extra sugar, and since I like sour pickles I added a spoonful of sugar too (along with garlic and spices). I've also got some sliced red onions and jalapenos in another jar, started those Sunday so I reckon they will need a couple more days.
 
Cal- in SoCal we have competition between Korean supermarkets so KimChi is not expensive. The one gallon jars are actually the most cost effective. The "standard" napa cabbage 1 gallon is 14 bucks... 10 bucks when on sale -quite often.

For a while our local Costcos got into it too and they were selling the one gallon for 10 bucks... a good brand too. But our buyer is nuts about "organic" so he quit carrying it. Gotta keep the rich folks from Newport Beach happy, I guess. (*)

They also have many kinds of kimChi. it's not like you're stuck with napa cabbage. The Korean supers around us normally carry a whole cooler of it... all kinds, all sizes, all qualities. It's fun. Just the other day we had some Korean BBQ ribs and we, daughter and I, likely ate a couple of lbs each.... my wife is not so keen... must be here "other" Far East genes.... "Oiishi des" for us two, not for her.

However, the best kimchi is the home made when we go to the smaller stores and buy them off a barrel. That stuff is explosive though, so you gotta put it the fridge as soon as you get home.

My favorites types of kimchi are cucumbers and radishes.

Oh, speaking of explosive... just like first power supply I put together.... the first time I made kimchi was in the summer and I had it in the garage... Hmm... it was a mess.

BTW, the mohama is salting in the fridge... because of our current hot weather -very Mediterranean, I think I'll wrap it in gauze and I'll hang it from the rafter in the garage. It should take three weeks to cure.

(*) Our Costco only carries "organic" ketchup. Now, nevermind that "organic" means carbon based and I won't eat silica (inorganic) based ketchup... but if I'm eating ketchup... do you think I give a hoot about health? Seriously....
 
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No shortage of Korean expats here Tony. Different countries have different prices for items. For example. Chicken drumsticks cost around 75 cents to a USD per pound at some local markets. KimChi costs 10 x that amount. The organic stuff is plain ridiculous. Even the Sui Choy used to make it costs more than the drumsticks. I can buy beef for less than KimChi.