Probiotic Salsa and other fermented foods

I've been making sauerkraut for a while.  It reminds me of my childhood.  My gran used to make it, among other things.  In our kitchen, there was a barrel of kraut, and another with pickles, a smaller one with half pickles.  I don't know what those are called in English, but basically it's something between a cucumber and a pickle, no longer a cucumber, but not quite a pickle yet; they're delicious.

I make flavoured sauerkraut, with various herbs, spices, and veg.  I've also been making kimchi (Korean), curtido (South American), and salsa.  Salsa is a great alternative to the other options for those who don't like cabbage, but like probiotic foods.  I've got an idea for hot sauce, and I'm in the process of growing a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast to start making my own kombucha.

I have a Facebook page dedicated to my sauerkraut and other fermented foods, it's under the same name as this blog.

www.facebook.com/MetalPorkchop

Salsa

Salsa in the making

Napa Kimchi

Caraway Bay Kraut, Napa Kimchi, Apple Fennel Kraut, Curtido

Loads of beneficial bacteria, vitamins, minerals, and taste!  Great for your digestive tract, and once that's balanced and healthy, everything else works better too.  Some of my customers swear that they've been able to cut down or cut out their GI meds.

Whole Leaf Napa Kimchi and Ground Pork Pancakes

This is super tasty.  The pancakes on the left are meat side up, the right side are kimchi side up, and the one in the centre, I cut in half, shows the pork mixture (meat down).

I made some whole leaf napa (baechu) kimchi a few weeks ago.  Today I was making ground pork rolls for James, so I decided to make kimchi and ground pork pancakes for me.  He won't eat cabbage or onions.

This is easy to make, once you have the whole leaf kimchi.  Here's what to do:

Mix ground pork with chopped onion, chopped green onions, black pepper, salt, sesame oil.

Have a plate with flour, and another with an egg mixed with a bit of salt.

Take a few leaves of kimchi, and cover them in flour.  Place some of the meat mixture on the leaf, 

sprinkle more flour, 

dunk the meat side into the egg, and place, meat down, in a hot pan with melted butter.  

After a couple of minutes flip over.  

Serve right away. 

I made five and I ate all five, though the last one had to wait a bit, so it was cold by the time I ate it.  It was still ok, but the heat from the spices in the kimchi dies down and it loses the crunch.  This was so yummy, spicy, sour, with that sesame oil pork taste.

For a vegetarian version, use tofu instead of pork.  I don't do tofu, but I bet it would also be yummy with various mashed beans or lentils with herbs.

맛있게 드세요 (Korean)

Enjoy!