Ganga3d ago

The kitchen is tidy. The chickpeas are soaking, making cracking sounds. There will be miso made tomorrow.

The apples are dehydrated. I leave them out until morning to cool so I can feel if they have any moisture left in them. But I reckon they are done. There are enough apples left for another batch, altho they look beautiful in their golden greenness in the large Moroccan bowl.

I picked some more bay leaves, about 50, rinsed them and they will dry overnight before being added to the pile on the large tray for complete dehydration. I don't put them in the dehydrator, they dry on their own pretty quickly. Ditto for some curry leaves that are on another tray.

There is gentle jazz in the background and the crack crack crack of the chickpeas.

The apple vinegar, fermenting on the bench, is bubbling well. I made a beet-celery fermented salad mix, kraut style, which will ferment for 4 or 5 days at a guess.

An Indian cookbook lies open on the lounge.

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Ganga4d ago

🍏 The apple vinegar is bubbling nicely. it is perfect weather for fermentation - not too hot, not too cold. I am always amazed how quickly ferments start to ferment. Less than 12 hrs after chopping the apples, they are fermenting in the jar.

🍎 The apple slices in the dehydrator - 5 trays - are perfectly dehydrated. They don't take very long.

🌿 Curry leaves are drying on a large tray. I powder the dried leaves and use for sprinkling.

🌿 Bay leaves, picked and washed, are drying for a friend, on a large plate.

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Show threadGanga6d ago

I picked up four rocklets/stones while I was at the beach, to serve as weights for ferments in jars that are too wide for the small weights I have, and too small for the larger ones. But when I got home I realised I over estimated the sizes needed. These are as big as the larger sized weights. Duh!

Except, I then remembered that I'll need weights for the misos I am making, and they will be excellent. I should have got a dozen more.

They have been boiled to loosen any dirt, scrubbed hard, and boiled again to sanitise.

Washing from the weekend away has been done, and all the bibs and bobs from the trip have been sorted and organised. I think I can take a break now.

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Show threadGanga6d ago

Koji has arrived! It came while I was away so I had to get my next door neighbour to grab the parcel from a very visible place on the porch (well done Aus Post 😬 )

These are for 2 miso ferments I'll get going in the next couple of weeks. I am planning 4 misos this year, from very short to very long.

Much will be given away to friends, and my aim is to have a cycle of miso ferments going - maybe 3 per year - as one is ready, start the next one.

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Show threadGanga6d ago

Also Dilly Beans. Hmm, dilly beans might be an American Iconic food, but these are nothing to write home about*. They are Ok, and will be quickly used, but don't make it into my favourite ferments. 6 days ferment in Australian summer conditions.

*Actually, I feel this way about many American iconic and common foods - the use of cinnamon in startling quantities is another example.

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Ganga6d ago

A 2-litre jar of #purslane, fermented with ginger, garlic and onion for 5 days, reduces to this - a much smaller jar of purslane and left-over brine for brine shots and soups etc.

I couldn't get the purslane to release enough brine to do a dry ferment, but it did release water over the 5 days. I suspected it would do this and adjusted salt levels to compensate.

It reduces as the stems soften a little and the purslane tangles around each other.

The purslane is still beautifully crunchy (I used grape vine leaves as a follower which may have helped).

Note for next time: Add some nori or kombu to the ferment.

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Show threadGangaMar 9

Replacing the capsicums on the fermentation bench with a 2l jar of beetroot kvass - this time with beetroot, carrots, mint, lemon verbena, fennel flower heads. It'll be ready before the weekend.

Very colourful in the jar.

I thought about adding hollyhock flowers, but when I tasted them I found they have a slight bitter edge. I should have tried the leaves too. I'll taste them tonight, ready for the next batch.

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GangaMar 9

I've just jarred a large lot of capsicums that have been fermenting. It's a mix of red and green capsicums so very colourful. They'll be lovely for quick stir fries.

The shiso leaves are still fermenting - another couple of days should do it in this weather. They are so aromatic, and every now and again there is a wave of their perfume through the kitchen/dining room. It must be as some CO2 escapes.

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GangaMar 3

Shiso aromas. Amazing.

Shiso ferment and one with green and red capsicums are new on the fermentation bench.

The neighbours are being noisy.

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Show threadGangaMar 1

Cont .....

A little more information..... apparently, traditionally Japanese miso varieties are salty. Modern misos, especially outside of Japan, are using a lower salt percentage eg Noma and Shockey. Even so, this kit seems to have a very high percentage for a white miso - although I found another kit online with exactly the same ratio. This is really good info: https://thejapanesefoodlab.com/miso-science/#salt-content

I probably could have fermented it for a year, but the instructions said 6 months.

I have one more source I want to check for info, a very traditional miso book, but I guess my learning from this is that salt levels are very flexible, as are koji/beans ratio, and time can be adjusted according to the amounts of other ingredients.

Nothing is every fixed in fermentation 😆

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The Science of Miso – The Japanese Food Lab