There is an entire WORLD of food preservation we have completely missed!

[Sea Beezy]

Opening the door to fermenting and pickling provides a huge number of provisioning options. I'm a big advocate. And yes you can use seawater for it, just be sure to boil it and be intelligent about your source. Don't draw from some oily high traffic harbour or other pollutant.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...41022981900132

The equipment is really low cost, there are lots of kits available now. And best of all its good for your guts. Together with some micro-greens and a decent ability to acquire protein you can significantly extend the length of time your stores will last you. For those who want to get away from it all.

[Chotu]

On my second batch of kimchi now.

I think this one’s three weeks old. Somewhere around there.

It’s really really really really good. Better than the ones that I’ve had in restaurants. And I’m talking about Koreatown in New York City.

The first one was a little too hot. I went a little bit lighter on the red pepper. But it has developed an amazing flavor now.

It’s a great way to keep three week old vegetables that would have gone bad.

And what a blast! Such a powerful flavor for inevitable boredom when you are motoring or making a long passage.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by Chotu

On my second batch of kimchi now.

I think this one’s three weeks old. Somewhere around there.

It’s really really really really good. Better than the ones that I’ve had in restaurants. And I’m talking about Koreatown in New York City.

The first one was a little too hot. I went a little bit lighter on the red pepper. But it has developed an amazing flavor now.

It’s a great way to keep three week old vegetables that would have gone bad.

And what a blast! Such a powerful flavor for inevitable boredom when you are motoring or making a long passage.

Show us your current, improved recipe and method. You use that pink curing salt?

[Chotu]

So the first one didn’t come out great in the long run.

The flavor was a little bit off and I think it’s because I didn’t use salt, but I also followed the normal recipe of letting it sit out for a few days before it goes in the refrigerator.

The second batch I used no salt again, but I didn’t ferment it outside the refrigerator. All fermentation took place on the refrigerator door. Inside the refrigerator.

So I came out with a no sodium kimchi that tastes fantastic.

As far as the recipe goes, I’ll do my best to post it here now. I did nothing precise. I also made the largest mason jar amount. But you’d be surprised. You’d be surprised how much you can fit into a mason jar.

Vegetables:
NAPA/Chinese cabbage
Leftover bok choy from making Ramen
Extremely thin matchstick slices of carrot and celery
Some left over leeks from making Ramen
About half a small onion
4 cloves of garlic
about half a tablespoon or so of fresh ginger

Bacteria:
Some “yogurt water” skimmed off Greek yogurt
A teaspoon of sugar

Seasoning:
A few generous splashes of fish sauce
Gochugaru pepper powder (essential)


Process:

Cut all the vegetables up really small except the garlic and ginger. The smaller you cut them the better.

take a mortar and pestle if you have one and smash up the garlic and ginger. Alternatively just dice it really small.

Now everything is ready to mix together.

In a salad bowl or some other large bowl, put all your vegetables. Toss in the garlic and ginger. A few splashes from your fish sauce bottle. A tablespoon of Gochugaru pepper if you like some heat. This is a very mild pepper and the main flavor of kimchi so use half a tablespoon if you want mild. Just add it until it looks like kimchi.

Splash in your yogurt water full of Lactobacillus bacteria.

Reach into the bowl and mix it all together so that it all forms a nice paste all over the surfaces of your vegetables.

Pack all of this into the mason jar.

Pack it down really tight. Push it to the bottom and crush it down.

Next add a little bit of water so that it’s under water in the mason jar. Just barely. It won’t take much water at all because you have packed the vegetables down so much there is no space between them for the water to go.

Save a couple of larger flat pieces of vegetable to lay on the top. Acting like a second cap Inside the kimchi container.

That’s basically it. Put it in the refrigerator and wait a week or two. Of course you can try it in advance but the flavor really develops a couple weeks in.

When you think of it, open up your little mason jar and push that stuff down to the bottom squeezing out bubbles formed by the bacteria.

Make sure to leave the mason jar Slightly loose so that air does not get in, but if air pressure builds up inside it will escape. Really not much different than when you are putting mason jars into a hot bath to do some canning. A little more loose than that. Apparently there are cases of mason jars cracking open from the pressure when people tighten them down all the way.

I’m not a professional recipe writer nor do I pay close attention to details when I am cooking. I find it to be an art rather than a science. Something like painting. Hopefully people will enjoy this pseudo-recipe.

Don’t be afraid to try it. Don’t be afraid that you need exact proportions of everything. You don’t.

With no sodium at all, this kimchi can be enjoyed by everyone. You won’t even miss the salt. The flavor is that good.

[s/v Jedi]

I always brine the cabbage before fermenting but rinse it all off before filling the jar. I stopped doing sauerkraut because I can buy good quality from Aldi, but we still make our own atjar tjampoer for which I use the recipe from Tijgerkop on YouTube.

No radish?

So I think you would like to use these:

https://www.amazon.com/4-Pack-Fermen.../dp/B076V66FZ4

and

https://www.amazon.com/Pickle-Pipe-O...dp/B01ERZGVVK/

[Chotu]

I don’t do the brine step because it’s too much sodium for me. There’s no salt in mine.

Instead, I just wait a little while with the Napa cabbage in the refrigerator. It doesn’t go bad. It just gets soft like after you brine it. Maybe I should have noted that in the little write up.

In my case it’s a great way to use up leftover vegetables that didn’t get used up making something else. I’m on the boat, traveling.

I had no radish onboard. So there is no radish. I know it’s common though. You can basically throw in anything that sounds good to make kimchi. As long as you have the Napa cabbage. That kind of makes it, in my opinion.

Oh yeah! Those fermentation jars and tops are pretty cool. Very nice.

[MicHughV]

my wife makes the best ice cream....
she uses two banana's, chopped up, plus a splash of cream, a table spoon of peanut butter and a table spoon of cocoa powder..
this all goes into a blender with a few icecubes...and churns for 30 seconds or so...
the whole process takes less than 5 minutes..best damn ice cream I've ever tasted...
the above is good for two desserts.....about a cupful each...

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

my wife makes the best ice cream....
she uses two banana's, chopped up, plus a splash of cream, a table spoon of peanut butter and a table spoon of cocoa powder..
this all goes into a blender with a few icecubes...and churns for 30 seconds or so...
the whole process takes less than 5 minutes..best damn ice cream I've ever tasted...
the above is good for two desserts.....about a cupful each...

That sounds really good! Pretty healthy also.

I freeze my bananas in the deep freezer so they don’t go bad. When I have them frozen and I put them in to make a smoothie, comes out like that. Like ice cream.

That sounds really good I’m gonna have to try that one.

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by Chotu

That sounds really good! Pretty healthy also.

I freeze my bananas in the deep freezer so they don’t go bad. When I have them frozen and I put them in to make a smoothie, comes out like that. Like ice cream.

That sounds really good I’m gonna have to try that one.

The frozen bananas work for baking too. Thaw them, cut the tops off and squeeze into a bowl. You get pretty much pre mashed banana goo to work with.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by rslifkin

The frozen bananas work for baking too. Thaw them, cut the tops off and squeeze into a bowl. You get pretty much pre mashed banana goo to work with.

That’s true! It’s really handy to have them around like that.

For the smoothies that come out like ice cream, I leave it out on the counter for about five minutes and then I shallow slice the peel only down the center and I can peel off the skin but the inside is still frozen so it doesn’t act like goo.

[MicHughV]

Yes, I forgot to add...my wife peels the bananas and puts them in the freezer prior to making ice cream...she will break the bananas into 3" pieces or so, so they will fit in the blender easily.

The blender makes short work of them.

She typically freezes the bananas which are starting to go yellow...ie, very ripe...very soft.....I don't like to eat ripe bananas, but in ice cream form they are delicious...

The final product is a mix of a smoothie and an ice cream....firm yet soft....hard to describe....you must eat it with a spoon.

It's a very quick process...ice cream on demand kind of thing......from start to end....no more than 5 minutes...

I don't know where she learned this...it's a recent thing....but damn.....excellent stuff !!

[off-piste]

"We" ?

Speak for yourself. I make a gallon of yogurt about every two weeks. I've got a daikon radish about to be pickled. Apple butter. Bread. Chicken stock. Whatever. I make it all myself.

BTW New York isn't exactly known for its Korean food. Wrong coast. Go to LA.

[s/v Jedi]

Just because we’re talking bananas, here’s my favorite recipe: you need bananas that are at their best to eat so just ripe. Y’all use overripe bananas, you won’t ever have those after trying this recipe hahaha

Also, you need kirschwasser. Google it, you can buy it but may need to find the right shop. It’s crucial for this recipe though.

Now how to do this… when you’re grilling in the cockpit and are running out of meat and fish… get some bananas out and put them on the grill. No peeling, just put them in the grill with peel and all. Now grill them, turn when they get brown etc. Inside the peel you are actually steaming them in banana juice keep turning and they may even go black a bit, but you wait for moisture to start bubbling up from the top. Sometimes the peel opens up a little, that’s okay.

When done, move a banana to a plate and get a sharp knife. Put the banana so that it is stable on the plate, on it’s side. If the peel broke a bit, put that side up.
Now with the knife make two shallow cuts at the ends just through the peel and only at the top. You want to open and remove a piece of peel at the top while keeping the rest of the peel intact.
This reveals a piping hot steamed banana inside. Carefully slice it in bite size pieces without damaging the peel (blunt knife). Work the peel a little loose at the sides. You making room for the booze
Now pour some kirschwasser over it. The peel should keep it inside. Eat it

Now here’s a good one.. a long time ago my father in law ate 3 of these at our place but on the way home he was stopped by police where they check for drunk drivers. The officer asked if he drank anything so he said No sir, I just ate some bananas

[Chotu]

We? I didn’t have the word we in that post that contained the Koreatown reference. I make the same things. You boiled some bones. Impressive! Why are you being so confrontational? In a food thread?

What are you trying to be the next Gordon Ramsey over here or something?

And so you’re trying to tell me the people who chose to move to Koreatown in New York City from Korea are somehow not as good as the people who chose to move to Los Angeles to that Koreatown? They’re all from Korea.

There have already been enough rappers killed with your West Coast East Coast battle.

As a punishment, or maybe a treat, I leave you with the following video. From Korea.

If you look carefully there’s a boat in it. So it’s definitely on topic.

[MicHughV]

Interesting thing about bananas...fishermen consider them bad luck and will not have them onboard for any reason....