Fermented foods

Has anyone tried making kimchi? I've had success with sauerkraut, but I'm 4 days into my first kimchi ferment and it smells like I need to get dynarod in. It is seriously humming.

[TheAwfulToad Ambassador]

I've done it a few times - not had any disasters so far.

I assume you know what kimchi normally smells like? It is quite pungent, but if it smells like sewage then something had gone horribly wrong Possibly incomplete salting?

This here is very similar to the recipe I use:

twoplaidaprons.com/traditio...

Don't forget to leave the lid slightly loose so it doesn't explode!

[Hidden in reply to TheAwfulToad]

Thanks. No, I confess to having never tried it before. I may stop the ferment going on today and see what is happening.

[TheAwfulToad Ambassador in reply to Hidden]

Might be worth buying a pack of commercial kimchi just so you get familiar with the taste; I guess you can also use a bit of it as a starter culture, although in theory you shouldn't need to.

Buy a good Korean import. Korean kimchi is pretty expensive outside of Korea, so a lot of low-quality brands have sprung up that are (at best) just meh. The nice thing about kimchi is that it's really worth making - you should find you're getting results similar to grade-A commercial brands with just a little practice.

Anyway, it's easy to tell if kimchi is 'off' -- it'll probably be slimy, and it'll smell and taste disgusting!

[queenie-duke]

No, I've not made kimchi. A friend of mine makes it all the time and the smell just doesn't sit right with me.. However, I do make Kombucha, we have a constant supply here. We love it, the grandkids ask for some every time they visit, they really like it. It's so easy to make, maybe you might like to try Kombucha.

[Hidden in reply to queenie-duke]

We have been making some kombucha. We haven't quite mastered it yet but our scoby continues to grow. So far our favourite has been raspberry and blackberry although they are still coming out cloudy at the moment.

[queenie-duke in reply to Hidden]

I use blueberries on the second ferment. I started with lemon and ginger but it was super sharp and burnt our throats.... I've done banana (absolute rubbish 😦) Strawberry and Raspberry. All the berries are good but I find blueberry the best and works just as well with frozen blueberries.. Much more economical.

[Hidden]

I was going to throw the kimchi out this morning however it is far less stinky now. Maybe it was going through a bit of a fermentation phase yesterday.

[Missdoubleyou]

I bought a jar from Amazon with holes in the top. I used this recipe bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/qui...

[Subtle_badger in reply to Missdoubleyou]

Oh, that's got vinegar in it, that's how they shorten the fermentation time. Real kimchi, the acid will be lactic acid from the fermentation.

[Missdoubleyou in reply to Subtle_badger]

It tastes really nice!

[Subtle_badger]

Be cautious. You are breeding bacteria, and sometimes a harmful one can get in and overtake the healthy ones. I used to make sourdough (yeah, yeast, but still) and one time I took the lid off my starter and - pwew! - straight in the bin.

If it smells good, just sour and a bit cabbagy, it should be fine. If not, bin it.