kimchi is fermented vegetables, different spices in the mix to some degree but the biochemistry is the same as what you find in the balkans. just like you say - mostly you can just put some water and ...
yeah i'm advising this based on things i have seen. tap water where i used to live in brisbane was nearly 9 pH in many parts of the city. this is potentially going to inhibit the growth of the acid loving anaerobic bacteria and favor nasty things that make H2S and phosphine and other bad smelling things. ammonia.
vinegar doesn't hurt normal fermentation, and in a healthy culture of fermented vegetables it's commonly naturally present.
the salt itself is slightly acidic, a saturated salt solution at room temperature is 6.3
the purpose of putting the teaspoon of yogurt is not innoculation, it's introducing a massive population of bacteria that metabolise acids, and compete aggressively with alkaline loving bad bacteria. it gives whatever wild bacteria is on the vegetables an environment where they are not outnumbered.
those are the reasons for the suggestions i make, and they help basically guarantee your first culture works, and after that, you can "backslop" by adding the juice from previous successful fermentations into the water you use to make further batches.
another tip is to use smaller jars, do multiple, so in the event they go bad sometimes you can just ditch the bad ones and seed new cultures with the healthy ones.
these are universal rules for fermentation of vegetables and you will always have success if you use them and once the ferment has kicked off naturally and gone to completion (about 4-5 days) you can count on being able to get it to work from then on and enjoy it.
in places in the world it's already common, you can just buy fresh, live cultured tubs of it, in croatia, bulgaria, serbia, bosnia, the supermarkets have them in the vegetable fridge shelves and there you can just use that to kick off your own from vegetables. also, especially during the cabbage harvest, almost everyone has a giant 100L fermenter and they line up all day long and go out with a trolley full of them and pack them into the salty water in their drum and make pretty much their annual supply of sauerkraut.
fermented vegetables are amazingly good for your health, the bacteria in them helps balance your gut microflora, and combined with yogurt are a powerful defense against conditions caused by bad gut bacteria. another thing that isn't well known about this is that especially ferments like nettle, and some other vegetables you can ferment as well, they accumulate minerals from the vegetables. like, i think there is a lot of magnesium and potassium in beetroot, for example, and this is an example of a lesser known vegetable that ferments beautifully and is where the original european style modern canned slices of beetroot originated. the stupidest thing is that the jar of fermented beetroot will last almost a year without refrigeration, longer if you keep it in a fridge or your basement stays under 15 degrees most of the year. the can lasts for 3-5 years. one has good bacteria, the other is dead plant matter.
vinegar doesn't hurt normal fermentation, and in a healthy culture of fermented vegetables it's commonly naturally present.
the salt itself is slightly acidic, a saturated salt solution at room temperature is 6.3
the purpose of putting the teaspoon of yogurt is not innoculation, it's introducing a massive population of bacteria that metabolise acids, and compete aggressively with alkaline loving bad bacteria. it gives whatever wild bacteria is on the vegetables an environment where they are not outnumbered.
those are the reasons for the suggestions i make, and they help basically guarantee your first culture works, and after that, you can "backslop" by adding the juice from previous successful fermentations into the water you use to make further batches.
another tip is to use smaller jars, do multiple, so in the event they go bad sometimes you can just ditch the bad ones and seed new cultures with the healthy ones.
these are universal rules for fermentation of vegetables and you will always have success if you use them and once the ferment has kicked off naturally and gone to completion (about 4-5 days) you can count on being able to get it to work from then on and enjoy it.
in places in the world it's already common, you can just buy fresh, live cultured tubs of it, in croatia, bulgaria, serbia, bosnia, the supermarkets have them in the vegetable fridge shelves and there you can just use that to kick off your own from vegetables. also, especially during the cabbage harvest, almost everyone has a giant 100L fermenter and they line up all day long and go out with a trolley full of them and pack them into the salty water in their drum and make pretty much their annual supply of sauerkraut.
fermented vegetables are amazingly good for your health, the bacteria in them helps balance your gut microflora, and combined with yogurt are a powerful defense against conditions caused by bad gut bacteria. another thing that isn't well known about this is that especially ferments like nettle, and some other vegetables you can ferment as well, they accumulate minerals from the vegetables. like, i think there is a lot of magnesium and potassium in beetroot, for example, and this is an example of a lesser known vegetable that ferments beautifully and is where the original european style modern canned slices of beetroot originated. the stupidest thing is that the jar of fermented beetroot will last almost a year without refrigeration, longer if you keep it in a fridge or your basement stays under 15 degrees most of the year. the can lasts for 3-5 years. one has good bacteria, the other is dead plant matter.
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