Filed under: ferment, korean, rice | Tags: bokumbap, kimchi, korean, local, rice, vegetarian
I’ve made this a couple times this week before coming across its real name: kimchi bokumbap. I don’t have an exact recipe, but I heated toasted sesame oil in a skillet, sauteed diced onion until soft, added Paul’s Grains brown rice (and sometimes other vegetables from my CSA like eggplant and kohlrabi), added tamari, and then added kimchi to the skillet just until warm. After emptying this into a bowl, I would fry an egg, usually breaking the yoke and cooking that a little too since I don’t really know how to fry an egg. The egg goes in the bowl too. I added peanut sauce a couple times as well and found this superior to the straight up Korean version. You can use any kind of oil, I just like toasted sesame flavor. This meal was entirely local (either from my CSA or Paul’s Grains) except for the oil, tamari, and peanut sauce and is a good way to incoroporate kimichi into a dish. In most Asian recipes, it is more authentic to use white rice. The only reasons I can think of are that white rice keeps a lot longer than brown rice and that people like the taste and texture better. I prefer brown as it has more nutrituonal value.
Last time I posted that you ought not buy kimchi from the store. This was a false claim. Since then I have found kimchi that I believe still has macrobiotic cultures. Investigate for yourself, but I standy by homemade kimchi has superior in flavor.
Filed under: breakfast, ferment | Tags: breakfast, egg, fermented, kimchi, korean, vegetarian
I had a great weekend visiting with my family in North Carolina, but now that I am back in Iowa I have to start feeding myself breakfast again. My roommate, Rebecca, said this was “gross,” so maybe I am not doing such a good job. On the bright side, absolutely everything in this meal (excepting the salt and ginger) is either from my CSA or the farmer’s market. Judge for yourself…
Eggs with Kimchi
1 egg, hard-boiled and diced
equal volume of kimchi, diced
Mix them in a bowl and eat ‘em!
Okay, that part was easy. Here is how to make radish kimchi:
I only used radishes and a little bit of cabbage from my CSA, but Katz reccomends that you use daikon radishes, burdock root, turnips, Jerusalem artichokes, carrots, red radishes, and fresh horseradish root.
Soak the radishes or root vegetables in a brine of 4 cups of water and 3 tbl of salt for a few hours or overnight. Once soft, taste the vegetables. If they are too salty for your taste, rinse them off. Reserve the brine.
Mix the vegetables with a paste of 1 to 2 onions, leeks, scallions, or shallots (or more), 3 to 4 hot red chilies (or more, I used red pepper flakes), 3 to 4 cloves of garlic (or more), and 3 tbl of grated ginger (or more). Stuff everything in a clean quart-size jar. Pack it tightly, pressing it down until brine rises. If there is not enough brine to cover the vegetables completely, add the reserved vegetable-soaking brine. Weight the vegetables down with a smaller jar or a zip-lock bag filled with brine (I prefer the latter method). Check everyday to make sure the vegetables are under the brine. This protects them from mold and promotes the growth of desirable bacteria cultures.
After about a week, move the kimchi to the refrigerator. That’s it! Don’t bother buying kimchi from the store; it doesn’t taste nearly as good and the bacteria cultures have been killed off.
Katz, Sandor Ellix. Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing Company. 2003.
Filed under: Indian, Legumes, ferment, rice, snack, vegan | Tags: dosa, ferment, Indian, lentils, rice, vegan, vegetarian
I’ve been flipping through Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz and making lists of different ferments I want to try. I like the idea of ingesting live bacteria cultures and of practicing traditional forms of food preservation. There’s a lot of literature on the subject so you don’t need me to give a laundry list of health (and, for some, spiritual) benefits.
Some ferments can take over a year; dosas took 24 hours. Dosas are like the Indian equivalent to a crepe or blini but probably a lot healthier. I ate mine folded in half with yogurt and slices of mango but they are good plain or with a hearty curry.
Here’s what you’ll need:
2 cups rice (I used brown, Katz says white Basmati rice is more authentic if that’s what you’re going for)
1 cup lentils (again, I’ve read that both white and black lentils are more authentic. I used red, Katz has also tried lima beans)
1 cup yogurt or kefir (optional)
1 tsp salt
1 small bunch parsley and/or cilantro, chopped
1 inch gingerroot, grated
vegetable oil
Soak the rice and lentils in water for at least 8 hours or overnight. If you leave them to soak a bit longer and they beging to sour, that’s fine. Strain the rice and lentils. Grind them into a batter with yogurt, kefir, or water in a food processor or other grinding implement. Put the batter in a bowl or jar with plenty of room for it to expland. The batter should be fine, not chunky, and thick, just barely pourable. If necessary, add a little water. Ferment (this means leave it out, not in the fridge) 24 to 48 hours or longer. Once it has risen substantially you can make dosas! If you leave it for a number of days, the sour flavor intensifies. Yum.
Add 1 cup of lukewarm water to the thin the batter. The batter should be liquid to produce thin pancakes. Stir in the parsley and/or cilantro, ginger, and salt. Heat a well-seasoned frying pan with oil. Use a laddle to pout the batter into the center of the pan and then use the bottom of the ladle to spiral the batter from the center out toward the edges of the pan. Cook as a pancake, flipping after bubbles appear. I cooked it on medium-low heat. Don’t expect to get the hang of this right away. My first few dosas were thick and deformed but the last couple that I made were thin and crispy! The dosa should be thin. If necessary, thin the batter by adding more water, yogurt, or kefir. Lightly oil the pan between dosas.
Katz, Sandor Ellix. Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing Company. 2003. 70-71.
