Two weeks ago I made Sauerkraut and this week I happened to be near the Oriental store so I stopped in. Well, this giant Chinese Cabbage and Daikon Radish screamed out at me. I love pickled radish and of course, you know I love to make my own Kimchi. It was a busy day in the kitchen as Kimchi is a process that takes some time.
I forgot to take a photo of the radish and the cabbage before washing all the leaves. You can sort of tell by the inner leaves how big it was. It weighed over 5 lbs so pretty big and it was extremely clean which was a plus.
I prepared the spicey rice paste while the cabbage wilted from the sea salt. It takes about 2 hours for the thick pieces to finally be pliable before mixing in the sauce.
I peeled and chopped the radish into bite-sized pieces and made a salt brine to cover it. I added a little hot pepper flakes for a bit of spice. I like to add the pickled radishes to my salads once they have fermented. It is an easy way to get some probiotics daily.
Another ferment that is extremely good for us is "fermented garlic in honey". This is the second time I am making it and I eat a few cloves during the week with a 1/2 teaspoon of the honey. It is wonderful to have during the fall and winter seasons when many germs are going around.
You can see that the garlic is fermenting by the bubbles in the jar. I stir it every morning until the bubbles stop and then I know that the fermentation process is complete. I keep it on the counter and over time the honey gets stronger and darker and oh-so tasty too.
The jars I started on New Year's Day with the Vanilla beans are coming along nicely. The jars are very dark and they smell amazing. I can hardly wait to use some of the Vanilla extract in a recipe to see the comparison from a store brand.
Are there any ferments that you like to make for your family? I would love to see what others make to assist their gut biome with good probiotics.
Until next time, this is Sunscape
Sun. Scape. Ing Your Day
I haven't checked my vanilla, I should. I've thought about the garlic honey thing a few times, but sugar is such a trigger for me... I bet your kimchi is to die for! I'm still plowing through the sauerkraut I made last year...
The Kimchi is very good and we both like it so that's a win. The garlic honey, I believe, is why neither of us has gotten sick at all this past year, especially with all the flu going around and covid. We have been great! I think it really boosts the immune system. I'm sorry you have so many food sensitivities. We go hit with 9" of snow overnight. Yikes, its deep now.
Geez, I’m sorta glad you are west of me. The 6” - 8” we got was bad enough! The wind has been really blowing here today, and there’s great “tornados” of snow moving across the farm.
Does the garlic go into straight honey? Could I use solidified honey, would it eventually soften? What do you do with the honey besides eat it as is? I could see it used in a cucumber salad, yum.
Yes, I poured honey on the garlic cloves in a jar. It takes about 2 weeks to ferment. I would put the solidified honey into a pot of hot water to soften it in the container and then pour over a jar of garlic. I know honey crystallizes easily and putting the jar in hot water helps to bring it back to liquid.
As for eating it, I take a teaspoon every few days to boost my immune system. I imagine it would be good as a dressing too or on cheese and crackers too.
You’re awesome. Thank you!😍