Tasty Bytes

The last two weeks we’ve gotten a head of cabbage in our CSA box. I’ve been wanting to make sauerkraut for awhile but after two rather odiferous attempts I was wary. I’d been making kim chee with much success but the Euro version was not working for me.

First I tried Sally Fallon’s trick of putting a few tablespoons of yogurt whey in with the cabbage. Made sense in that sauerkraut is made from a lactic acid fermentation of cabbage as with milk to yogurt. Result…uh, not very appetizing…the sauerkraut was sour but the cabbage turned to mush. The lactic acid needed for yogurt must not be the same as that for sauerkraut. I tried again with just salt but it stank up the house and got moldy…tossed it.

Last week the CSA came with a beautiful head of Savoy cabbage – this is a yellowish/green cabbage with crinkled leaves, a sweeter variety than the typical smooth leaf cabbage. I decided to ‘kraut’ this head on Saturday. But before I tackled the cabbage I ventured out to the Berkeley Farmer’s Market to pick up a case of Bariani olive oil. While I was there, I decided to purchase a jar of sauerkraut from Cultured. Why? I figured I could use some of the brine from this ‘live’ sauerkraut as a starter for mine.

I now was very confident this attempt at sauerkraut would finally be successful. First I sliced up the cabbage very thinly with my Japanese mandolin, the Benriner. Next I tossed the cabbage with sea salt, a splash of the Cultured sauerkraut brine and just for kicks I added a teaspoon and a half of grated ginger. I then used a big wooden spoon to pack the cabbage into the removable ceramic crock of my 4 quart crock pot. This part was fun – you just smash the cabbage until it releases it’s juice. Once the cabbage was densely packed I weighed down the cabbage so it was totally submerged in the resultant brine with a stack of 6 plates. I covered the crock loosely with some plastic wrap to keep out the bad bugs and put on the glass lid. Now I had to wait.

Sidebar: Hardcore fermenters out there would use the Harsch fermentation crock – the Mercedes Benz of pickling crocks. If you don’t have a Harsch or a crock, a large jar will work too.

Everyday I took a sniff. After a few days I could see bubbles forming on the surface and smell the telltale signs of fermentation. Yesterday (after 7 days), I finally got my first taste. Success! Nicely sour but not overly so, a hint of sweetness (those Terra Firma farmers sure know how to grow a sweet head of cabbage), not as salty as Cultured’s (which I found to be alittle too salty for my tastes) and very crispy :)! The ginger (which was really P’s idea ) added a nice kick. We’ll be enjoying a bite of this kraut with each meal.

Sauerkraut is a very healthy food after all. Full of vitamin C it helped prevent scurvy way back in the seafaring days. Not only that, but sauerkraut is a great source of vitamin K – important for blood clotting, bone formation and repair. Wow, and it’s also chockful of beneficial bacteria that your intestines would love to have move in. Especially if you’ve recently had to undergo a round of antibiotic therapy. After the Korean study suggesting that Kim Chee, sauerkraut’s cousin from the far east, prevented bird flu, a recent report by ABC news headlined “Is Sauerkraut the Next Chicken Soup?” I don’t know for sure but to get the full health benefits make sure what you are eating is unpasteurized and contains live cultures.

Here’s the recipe I used:

* Exported from MasterCook *

Sauerkraut

Amount Measure Ingredient — Preparation Method
——– ———— ——————————–
2 1/2 pounds cabbage
1 ounce sea salt

Make sure everything is clean. Remove all rings from fingers and wash hands well.

Shred the cabbage using a mandolin or thinly slice with a knife into a large bowl. Toss the cabbage with the sea salt and mix well. Using a wooden spoon or potato masher, pack the cabbage into a crock or large jar. Don’t be shy – put some elbow into it so the cabbage starts to let out it’s juices – you know back in the day when folks would put up 1000+ pounds of sauerkraut at a time they would just jump into the barrel with feet bare and stomp away – not just good for grapes, eh? Just so you know, none of my piggly wigglies took part in this recipe.

Ok, back to the recipe…Weigh down the cabbage with a number of plates or follow instructions if using the Harsch fermenting crock. Make sure there is enough brine to cover the cabbage. If you need more brine you can dissolve 1 T of sea salt with 2 cups of water. Cover with a lid (a plate works) or loosely with plastic and set in a cool dark place to ferment. If the weather is cool (65-68F), the sauerkraut should be ready in 5 to 7 days. Fermentation will be quicker if it is warmer. You can taste beginning after a few days and refrigerate as soon as the sauerkraut is as sour as you like.

Notes: 1 ounce of sea salt = approx. 1 1/2 Tablespoons. For different size batches multiply the number of pounds of cabbage by 0.4 oz or 0.6 Tablespoons to determine how much salt to add.

Variations: add a teaspoon or two of grated ginger or juniper berries or caraway seeds or cloves of garlic or chile flakes or dill… Use red cabbage or a mix of red and green. Replace some of cabbage by weight with a few grated beets or fennel bulb.

Yield:
“1 1/2 quarts”

I’m on a roll…made another batch today with half and half red and green cabbage along with some grated ginger.

Give it a try and make your tummy happy 🙂

I love seaweed. The unsung vegetables of the sea! Chock full of minerals that our bodies sorely lack these days, I wonder why we don’t include it in our diets more. Here in the U.S. of A, seaweed eaters are made fun of as granola eating hot tubbers. Even if our favorite sea vegetable company is located in Mendocino.

But what do they know! Asian cultures have been reaping the health benefits of these nutritious vegetables for thousands of years. For example, here is a version of the soup my SIL enjoyed (much more than the pig’s feet I might add) after the birth of little S. For new mothers, this soup is purported to help contract the uterus, stop bleeding, clear the blood, detoxify, and rejuvenate so that the mother can produce lots of milk for the new baby. This is generally consumed for the first three weeks after birth. Judging from the results my SIL experienced, this and/or the pig’s feet worked and then some!

Nutritionally, this soup is rich in protein, calcium, iodine, magnesium, iron and folate. Not to mention all of the other trace minerals that our bodies only need in tiny tiny quantities. No wonder new moms find this soup so restorative.

Luckily you don’t have to be a new mom to slurp up this soup. It’s a great soup for anyone to enjoy and in fact you will find this soup (or a variation there of) on many a Korean restaurant’s menu.

* Exported from MasterCook *

Miyuk Guk

Amount Measure Ingredient — Preparation Method
——– ———— ——————————–
1 1/2 ounce Korean brown seaweed or wakame, dried
6 cups water or beef broth or combo (preferably homemade)
1 pound mussels, whole fresh
6 ounces grass-fed ground beef
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon tamari soy sauce
1 clove garlic — minced
2 thin slices ginger — minced
2 teaspoons oil — grapeseed or rice bran
sea salt to taste

Soak Korean brown seaweed or wakame in water for 30 minutes or until soft. Wash well to remove any sand, drain. If there is a thick center stem, remove. Cut into 1-2″ pieces. Set aside.

Cook mussels in the water or beef broth. Remove mussels from broth and separate mussel from shell. Reserve the broth and mussels. Discard shells.

Marinate beef with the sesame oil, tamari, garlic and ginger for 5 minutes. Heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a 6 qt stock pot, saute the marinated ground beef. Cook for a few minutes then add seaweed. Saute for another 2 minutes. Add broth and simmer for 10 minutes. Add mussels. Simmer another minute or so. Season to taste with additional tamari or sea salt.

Variations: use more or less of any of the ingredients to your taste. You can also add additional seafoods like clams and oysters.

I had a request from an expectant mother for the Chinese remedy given to mothers after the birth of their child and to help with milk production…Pickled Pig’s Feet.

When my SIL gave birth to little S, my Mom brought over batch of endless batch of these delicious trotters (…at least those first 2 or 3 were tasty but really, how many can one really eat in a month!) It didn’t bother my Mom in the least that SIL was afraid of the sight of former trotters of any animal origin. Mom’s solution was for me to pick out said trotters and eat them myself (…*belch*) leaving the brine, radish, eggs and ginger for SIL – no small feat 😉 when the resultant brine after simmering for more than an hour in vinegar is now a block of hard rubbery gelatin. Oh, those fond memories…I think there is still some gelatin stuck to the ceiling of the kitchen…

On a nutritional note, this is really a great replensihing ‘bone’ broth – rich in minerals, collagen, and protein. Think about it – the primary function of a being is it’s own survival. A Mom who just gave birth is depleted to say the least! If she stays depleted, she may not be able to produce much milk. Eating nourishing broths can quickly rebuild much needed minerals and protein. Once the mother is replenished, she can spare the nutrients for her baby.

Here is the recipe as adapted from Mom, Grace Young, Eileen Blonder and Annabel Low:

* Exported from MasterCook *

Pickled Pig’s Feet with Ginger

Amount Measure Ingredient — Preparation Method
——– ———— ——————————–
5 pounds pig’s feet — split and cut into 2 inch pieces
2 teaspoons sea salt
**Brine**
6 cups water
1 pound ginger — peeled and cut into 1 in chunks
20 fluid ounces chinese black vinegar — (hock naw mai cho)
21 fluid ounces chinese sweet black vinegar (teem ding teem cho) — may sub Balsamic vinegar
6 ounces rapadura or sucanat (more or less to taste)
1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 pounds daikon radish — peeled and cut into 3/8″ half round slices
6-8 each hard boiled eggs with shells

In an 8 qt stainless steel or enamel pot, bring 4 quarts of water to a boil with sea salt. Add pig’s feet and bring back to a boil – boil for 10 minutes.

Drain feet into colander and rinse feet well. Remove any hair or discoloration with a paring knife or shave with a disposable razor (my favorite part.)

Wash pot. Add 6 c water, ginger and regular black vinegar to pot and bring to a boil. Add pig’s feet, lower the heat and simmer covered for 45 minutes. Add daikon radish. Continue simmering until tender – another 15 to 20 minutes. Next, add sweet black vinegar, cider vinegar, sugar and hard boiled eggs – bring back to a boil and simmer another 20 minutes.

Cool. Pick out the eggs and peel. Refrigerate overnight. Remove hardened fat. Heat and serve with the peeled eggs.

Grace Young’s The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen

Ellen Blonder and Annabel Low’s Every Grain of Rice

Up next, a recipe from the Korean Tradition…

There is a great deal of research and hence controversy regarding the health benefits -or not- of soy and soy products. The main concerns are that soy is high in phytoestrogens and compounds that inhibit the absorption of nutrients by our body. Not only that, but many of the soy products typically consumed by consumers these days are highly processed and chock full of nasty food additives.

So what’s so bad about phytoestrogens? Well, hard to believe for some, but our bodies are finely tuned organisms controlled by an array of hormones. Tinkering with our body’s hormone balance by even amounts so small to imagine can throw this delicate balance off. This is especially true for infants and children. Studies have shown girls experience puberty at a much younger age these days…could the increase of soy in the American diet be responsible?

Besides, soy is NOT the most nutritious food on earth as the soy industry and soy industry lobbied government organizations would have you believe. The B vitamins are not in a form absorbable by humans and in fact soy contains anti-nutrients which inhibit the absorption of vital nutrients.

And, those soy burgers, dogs, and other meat substitutes are the highly processed waste product from the soy oil industry – mostly GMO by the way. In order to make the leftover soy oil sludge edible it must be put through a maze of high pressure chemical mastication and de-odorization to give it a ‘nice’ texture and ‘clean’ palate to then add a chemical lab inventory of artifical flavors, colors and preservatives. Yum!

Ok, so that said, not all soy is bad. The age old fermentation process actually transforms soy into a healthful addition to a well balanced diet. What’s on the good list? Any non-GMO organic miso, tamari/soy sauce, natto, Chinese fermented bean curd, and tempeh. Tofu doesn’t fall into the fermented category. When studies cite Asian diets as high in soy – well, it’s a bit of a stretch. While an Asian may have soy products everyday – it’s usually only a few tablespoons of a fermented soy product or occasionally some tofu but again only a small amount.

What’s a soy lovin person to do? Well, as an adult, I’d enjoy the good list of soy products with some tofu on occasion and even some homemade soy milk every now and then.If I had a baby or kid, I’d avoid giving too much of the good soy – maybe a few times a month if that. And for everyone, avoid like the plague, any overly processed soy-like ‘fake’ meat products, commercial soy milks and anything with soy oil.

I must admit I love soy milk – it’s in my blood. BUT not the commercial stuff you find today in the typical grocer. That stuff has all kinds of additives to give it a ‘creamy’ almost dairy milk like consistency, sweeteners, and bad bad bad forms of calcium and deadly D2. BTW, The good form of vitamin D is D3.

When I was in China, a typical breakfast included a hot bowl of freshly made soy milk. I enjoyed that treat so much that I figured I could make my own healthy version. After a bit of research, I found a basic recipe in Grace Young’s The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen. I made one addition to her recipe of adding lemon juice (or any acid) during the soaking phase to neutralize some of the anti-nutrients (phytates). So when I want to enjoy some soy milk, I whip up a batch of my own from organic, non-GMO soybeans. Here’s the recipe:

SOY MILK

Amount Measure Ingredient — Preparation Method
——– ———— ——————————–

1/2 cup soybeans, dried (approx. 3 oz.wt.)

2 tablespoons lemon juice — or vinegar

lots of filtered water

Wash soy beans well. Soak beans with lemon juice or vinegar and twice as much water as beans for approximately 24 hours in the refrigerator.

Rinse and discard any loose skins.

Put beans in a 3 to 4 quart sauce pot with at least twice as much water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook covered for 1 hour or until beans are soft. Alternately, you may use a pressure cooker on high for 10 minutes.

Cool to a temperature you can work with. Drain beans BUT reserve liquid. Put beans in a food processor or blender with enough of the cooking liquid to puree. Puree until very smooth like the consistency of baby food.

In a 4 quart sauce pot bring remaining reserved cooking liquid and enough filtered water to bring amount up to 4 1/2 cups to a boil. Stir in the soybean paste. Bring back up to a boil, reduce to a slow simmer and simmer covered for 20 minutes.
Remove from heat and cool. Strain through a very fine mesh sieve or muslin cloth. Press to extract as much milk out as possible. Toss solids or put into your compost.

Pour soy milk into a clean container and refrigerate.

To serve: shake bottle. You may drink hot or cold with a little sweetener or sea salt as desired. Soy milk will keep for about 4 – 5 days in the refrigerator.

Source: Adapted from “The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen” by Grace Young

Yield: “1 quart”

For more info on the soy controversy, read The Whole Soy Story by Dr. Kaayla Daniels or visit the Weston A. Price Foundation website.