Summary: Today is just kick back, low key. We talk about eating cactus... Yikes! And, how easy it is to ferment food... You CAN ferment your own food for preserving, better nutrition and much better health!! But be careful you may get addicted like me and start looking for things to ferment. Have fun! I misspoke in the beginning. I should have said cabbage and cucumbers most likely won't need a starter or whey when fermenting. Carrot probably would need a little starter. Also I don't think I mentioned to stay away from plastic and metal when fermenting. Recipe for Kim Chee. It is kind of more of a process. But here is how I do it. Use a Napa (also called Chinese) cabbage. For each 5# cabbage use 3 TBL. salt (or 0.6 TBL for each pound.) It must be kosher or pickling salt. Don't use iodized table salt. Cut the cabbage up and massage the salt in. Add at least 3 inches of ginger root. Lots of garlic. (Like a whole head) And add some kind of hot pepper. I just often us the crushed red pepper. just mix it all together in a large bowl. Usually I just mix the cabbage and salt. then add the rest of the stuff in the jar. You have to press it down really tight. water will start coming up and the cabbage needs to stay under the water. So weight it down with something. I use a pimento jar. I then just put the lid on loose enough to let co2 escape but tight enough to press the jar down. If you don't have enough water building up to cover the cabbage, you can make some up. For 1 qt of water add 2-3 TBL salt and you can top up any fermented veggies with that. I cover my jar with a bag to keep the light out. I then sit it in a plastic dish pan. Most times when it ferments it will bubble out some liquid. If you smell a dead rat, it is probably your fermenting cabbage. LOL Taste it in 2 or 3 days and when it is sour enough put the lid on tight and stick it in the fridge. Enjoy and I hope you get hooked like me. I even make fruit Kim Chee. It is so yummy! I am going to add this to the website under the podcast where I talk about fermenting in case you need to find the instructions again.rmenting. Here is an email I replied to someone asking for my Kim Chee recipe:
