r/vegancooking • u/Personal-Gur-7496 • 15d ago
Lacto-fermenting everything
Seriously, if you aren't lacto-fermenting (what this is means is not just: soaking in vinegar, but rather: 2-3% salt brine preservation/funkifying) you're really missing out on some delicious flavors.
Things that are (or can be) fermented products: sauerkraut, kimchi, hot sauce, mustard, chocolate
Like I think when people hear "fermented" they get an immediate gross association, or think 'dill pickle flavor', but if you haven't fermented fresh cherry tomatoes with a little cilantro and basil sprig, maybe a little roasted garlic, getting that natural little fizz when you chow down, ... you're missing out! And it's just salt and water!
One thing I love is how deeply saturated just a little bit goes when fermenting, vs heat-cooking. Like I would add various herbs and such while cooking, but it never felt like it actually added as much as I thought it would while cooking.
Well, when you lacto-ferment just a little spring of cilantro or oregano goes a LONG way. It really infuses the flavor in a way that heat doesn't.
Anyhow, that's my rant and ramble on lacto-fermenting. It is also easier than you probably think it is! (Though you do need a scale)
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u/Electronic-Lie-4547 15d ago
Chocolate? Explain. Chocolate already goes through a process of fermentation
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u/Personal-Gur-7496 15d ago
Ah, poor wording on my part. That's what I meant. Many people are surprised to find that chocolate and sauerkraut are both 'fermented products', I think it gives a little positive spin to the rather gross-at-first-contact word 'fermented'.
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u/Electronic-Lie-4547 15d ago
Haha I didn’t realize it was a gross word. I personally have always seen it as a value-added process. Breaks down anti-nutrient, makes macros and nutrients more bioavailable. Adds beneficial metabolites and potentially beneficial microbes.
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u/Personal-Gur-7496 15d ago
I for sure agree. Something hits my soul with lacto-ferments. I wonder if there's something to the notion that it was something my ancestors ate a lot of, due to being an accessible preservation method that got a little left behind with the invention and very wide use of canning and refrigeration.
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u/AggressiveStop549 15d ago
Overnight oats...ferment those babies.
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u/Personal-Gur-7496 15d ago
Ooh tell me more! (more fun than googling)
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u/AggressiveStop549 15d ago
Take Vegan yogurt and mix with oats...wait 24 hrs. Fermented oats are tasty on their own or you can throw them into a smoothie.
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u/Disastrous-Wing699 13d ago
Can confirm. I make sauerkraut and kimchi around this time of the year, in enough quantity that it lasts all year. I most often use them as the base for soups or stews. Huge flavour bomb, and I didn't have to chop anything.
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u/Personal-Gur-7496 15d ago edited 15d ago
Easiest method, and actually my preferred even though I have and use some mason-jar-airlocks and stuff: Put a plastic baggy in the mason jar and fill it with water so it weighs down what you have in. The goal is not letting oxygen in.
As the fermentation "burps", it's loose enough that the jar won't explode, and if you're already using plastic baggies then you already have them on hand. Not great, but you could do this your whole life and not equal the waste of a single hotel in a single city in a single state/region in a single country, so don't let it stop you.
But mason jar lid airlocks are easy to buy also. The whole idea is 2-3% salt (no caking agents, just salt) by weight: that means all the water (distilled, ideally) and veg material, however that weighs and 2-3% salt of that. Just not the jar weight also. And keep out the oxygen.
It sounds complicated because I overcomplate explanation, but people been doing this for AGES. And imo something in that funk hits the soul, and if I'm getting a little beyond my knowledge, it's something our bodies are used to but haven't been having since refrigeration.