Enriching Your Life With Fermented Food – Make Your Own at Home
It’s cheap and easy to make your own fermented foods at home. This is an ancient and almost effortless tradition for storing the bounty of the harvest worldwide! Here is a step by step process to make your own fermented foods at home.
Things you will need: Cabbage, carrots, ginger, spices, salt
Heres how to make veggie ferments in 7 easy steps!
- Save and set outer cabbage leaves aside (use at end), chop cabbage, carrots, and beets* into a bowl
2. Add 1-2 tbsp salt and leave to sit for 1-2 hours to soften.
3. Add desired spices, and enjoy the therapy of squeezing and massaging the veggies to draw the moisture out (for spices, some of our favorites are cumin, black peppercorns, and fresh dill.
4. Stuff the veggies in the jar, making sure the veggies are packed tight and that the water covers the vegetables completely.
5. Take the outer cabbage leaves that you saved and fold them under the tapered jar inside the jar on top of the chopped veggies. Work it so that the leaves are submerged and also hold all the little veggie pieces in place.
*If needed, pour a little extra salty water to top it off. Then put the lid for the jar on loose
6. Cover the jar with the lid loosely, so that the air can pass through, or use a cheesecloth, dishcloth, or any piece of cloth with a rubberband to keep all insects out.
7. Leave it on a counter top for 2 weeks to a month away from direct sunlight, topping off more water if needed to keep everything submerged. Evaporation of the water level often occurs.
Enjoy your kraut or kimchee straight out of the jar, mixed in rice, added as a salad dressing, as addition to eggs, or added on top of a stir fry for your probiotic goodness. Or let us know how you like to eat it below!
*you can use any other veggie and spices you choose, to preference
Let me know if you have any further questions on the comment section below…
All pics taken from our “Make your own Kimchee” Video coming soon !
Enjoy your fermented goodness,
Dan de Lion
www.youtube.com/returntonatureskills
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To learn more about the importance of probiotic foods with human health check out:
Return to Nature – Fermentation Video Series
Return to Nature Article – About Vegetable Fermentation
Return to Nature Article – The role of Bacteria in Human Evolution
Return to Nature Article – About Kombucha
