Brainstorming a bit, here are some ways to preserve food:
fancy airlock is optional. |
1. freeze
2. dehydrate
3. can
4. lacto-ferment
Of the four options above, I feel mostly confident about three of the ways. I want to learn to can tomatoes this summer.
Believe it or not, the most intimidating sounding option, lacto-fermenting, is rather easy. It tastes super yummy and is very good for you! When lacto-fermenting food, the nutritional value actually increases - unlike canning or freezing. Lacto-fermenting doesn't require fancy equipment (just extra refrigerator space.)
Last weekend at the farmers market, I gathered most everything needed to make kimchi. I followed Lisa's recipe here.
For the first time I used chinese cabbage instead of the standard head of cabbage. After a quick google search, I discovered that chinese cabbage does not have to be pounded. Rather, soak it in a brine solution. That was easy!
In the picture to the right, you will see that I didn't use much of the green part of the cabbage. I'm going to make more this weekend and use more greens. One recipe I found online said Koreans also use mustard greens in their kimchi.
I'm taking baby steps towards preserving food this year with hopes of a full table of local foods in January. One of the recipes I want to try is this one for lacto-fermenting rainbow chard stems.
-Julie
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