I have an on again off again flirtation with fermented stuff. I love working with them, but they’re tedious to prepare, and, they have a tendency to have my entire kitchen smell like, well, fermented stuff. I understand why people who are really into it setup a separate space, often apart from their living quarters, just to work on fermenting. It can be a bit intense.
You might remember the whole process with fermenting brussels sprouts back in 2013…
Which led to a delicious veal tongue dish that we served a couple of times at Casa SaltShaker.
Or, more recently, the daikon kimchi – dongchimi…
Which garnished a lovely dish of roosterfish in a reduced chupe sauce.
Recently, I’ve been reminded of fermentation experiments. Some of it has been the concentrated effort over the last year to visit all the Korean restaurants in town. And a little boost eating several times at 13 Fronteras where chef Dave has shelves stocked with things fermenting. And then, I stumbled across Kimchi Buenos Aires, a home-delivery fresh kimchi service, with several varieties available.
Delivered right to my door, inexpensive, and delicious. I’ve tried his regular and his spicy versions of napa cabbage kimchi. Which found their way into a simple kimchi and egg rice bowl…
…and then an egg salad sandwich…
…and a kimchi infused sort of paella…
But those things got me thinking, and I soon found myself with various ferments, mostly kimchis, going… a cauliflower kimchi, a classic cabbage kimchi, and, inspired by chef Dave, a “poor man’s cheese” – fermented bulghur wheat.
Those are longterm ferments – weeks or months even. But there are quick ferments and kimchis, like garlic chive, or buchu kimchi atop fried sweetbreads.
Or, using squash – hobak kimchi. Made with raw squash, thinly shredded greens (kale in this case), and pinenuts.
Which found itself after just a few days of fermenting as a tasty little garnish atop our version of huatia sulcana, the slow herb-braised beef that we serve relatively regularly at Casa SaltShaker.
The longer term stuff is still “getting there”. The poor man’s cheese, a Lebanese dish called Kechek el fouqara, is just ready for use, currently stored in a jar of olive oil after 6 weeks of fermenting… I just haven’t figured out what I want to do with it. On its own, it’s delicious, and really does taste like a tangy cheese.
The cabbage kimchi isn’t quite ready, though getting close. It did make for a tasty version of a banh mi sandwich, filling in for the classic Vietnamese pickled carrots and daikon, along with roast pork loin and duck liver pate.
The cauliflower kimchi is ready to use, but I haven’t figured out something to do with it. Likely it will end up in a version of the kimchi paella, for an afternoon brunch one weekend. But, we shall see…
Meanwhile, did I mention the kitchen (and more, the refrigerator), smells like fermenting things? I’ve got to use these things soon…
Thanks for the pictures of ‘poor mans cheese ‘…mine has finally (after 10 days)started to ferment.I am a little unsure of the next steps but from your pictures I can at least get an idea of what to do next.
Basically, once it got as fermented/sour as I wanted it, with that sort of tangy flavor (which, as noted, took about six weeks, so you’ve got some time to go still), all I did was drain it, press it into pucks, and store it in olive oil in the refrigerator. Then used it in place of cheese in a few different dishes where it seemed to make sense, or just ate it as a snack with some fruit and nuts. I can’t say I was wowed by it, it was an interesting kitchen exercise, but I’ve not made it again, so… there’s that.