Me: no thank you

Them: we're calling it kimchi

Me: yes I'll take five pounds

  • Revolverlbc [he/him,comrade/them]
    ·
    4 years ago

    I'm a chef at a vegetarian restaurant that focuses on fermented food. I'm happy to answer any questions about how to make your own farting lettuce at home.

    I eat meat in my civilian life so I can also answer questions for any brave souls curious about fermenting meat product.

    • Woly [any]
      hexagon
      ·
      4 years ago

      Any chance you could drop us your go-to kimchi recipe?

      Also, I always knew Brad Leone was a comrade :rat-salute:

      • Revolverlbc [he/him,comrade/them]
        ·
        4 years ago

        Love Brad Leone. I use his half sour pickle recipe at the restaurant.

        I would recommend Maangchi from YouTube for a great intro to kimchi:

        https://youtu.be/0sX_wDCbeuU

        Vegan comrades can switch out fish sauce for equal amounts of soy sauce.

        • Nagarjuna [he/him]
          ·
          4 years ago

          Also there are enough vegetarians in east asia that Phish sauce is a thing.

          • Revolverlbc [he/him,comrade/them]
            ·
            4 years ago

            Never had it. Is that a branded thing or made at home? I have used the brine from making umeboshi which I've heard is a common substitute.

            • Nagarjuna [he/him]
              ·
              4 years ago

              The vietnamese grocery near my old home sells them next to each other, never checked the brand.

    • meatballs12345 [he/him,they/them]
      ·
      4 years ago

      What's the best soy/fish/oyster sauce to have? I really dislike all the offerings at Local Supermarket. I am also open to making my own if that's easyish.

      • Revolverlbc [he/him,comrade/them]
        ·
        4 years ago

        I am really fortunate to live in a place with a lot of access to Korean Markets. I'm not particularly brand loyal and always looking to try something new. My last batch of kimchi turned out better than usual using Lucky Fish Sauce - from Thailand.

        I'm really into fishing, hunting, and foraging so I have some experience making my own fish sauce. I'll dig around for the recipe I used and post it below. I remember it being fairly simple and straight forward.

        • Revolverlbc [he/him,comrade/them]
          ·
          4 years ago

          -ANIMAL BUTCHERY WARNING

          Fermentation is all about ratios of salt to organic material.

          Rough chop 4 or 5 small fish. I use fresh caught mackerel. Use the whole fish- bones, guts, and all. The digestive enzymes in it's stomach helps break it down.

          Mix with 25% salt by weight of the fish.

          Put in a vessel.

          Put weight on top of chopped fish. I have thick glass discs but you can use whatever handy. I've used cleaned pebbles before. The idea is to push the solids down below the liquid line when the salt expresses the fish's moisture.

          Loosely put a lid on the vessel. It will need to slowly express gas. There is special equipment available but I hardly ever use it. You can also "burp" the vessel every once in a while.

          It actually doesn't smell as bad as you'd think.

          Let sit for 6 months to a year. The longer the more depth of flavor. Filter out the remaining solids using a coffee filter or clean old sock. Enjoy your fish sauce.

            • Revolverlbc [he/him,comrade/them]
              ·
              4 years ago

              I'm sure it can be done with cleaned and processed fish too. I have a buddy that did it with ground beef. They said, and I quote, "it was disgusting but I couldn't stop eating it."

            • Revolverlbc [he/him,comrade/them]
              ·
              4 years ago

              Great questions. I've used garlic in a fish sauce to try and approximate a cambodian fish sauce I tried once and fell in love with. It came out pretty well. I love experimenting with flavors once I get a good recipe down. The only draw back is a 6 month investment of time is a lot to gamble on anything too crazy. There are ways to speed up the process using koji (aspergillus oryzae), an edible mold, but that's another whole can of worms.

              Most fermentation benefits from steady temps in the mid to low 70s but I don't fret too much about it. I just put it in a closet. I do have a fermentation chamber I've built for more temperamental ferments (beer, tempeh, growing koji spores) but I didn't need it for years. Most ferments are pretty forgiving.

              My current fish sauce is in the fridge in a glass condiment bottle who's origin I've long forgotten.

              Sorry for the long winded response. I've been drinking and I geek out hard on this stuff. Good luck! Hit me up if you have any more questions.

        • meatballs12345 [he/him,they/them]
          ·
          4 years ago

          I'd love a recipe for Fish sauce! I have a bunch of indian/pakistani grocers near me, but not haven't look for an aisian mart.

          • Revolverlbc [he/him,comrade/them]
            ·
            4 years ago

            I posted one from Sandor Katz's Art of Fermentation in this thread. It's a long wait letting nature take its course. It's worth the struggle to get your hands on some.