Spicy and Sour Marinated Cabbage

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 Fermented Cabbage

SEASONING:

1 teaspoon Korean Red Chill Flakes

1 teaspoon Sesame Seed, toasted

1 teaspoon Sugar

1 tablespoon White Rice Vinegar

a few drop Sesame Oil

DIRECTION:

1. Cut the cabbage into bite size.

2. In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients.  Gently mix everything with hand until the cabbage is well coated with the seasoning.  Chill for 15 minutes before serving.

Blanched Iceberg Lettuce 簡易中式烚生菜

Sometimes when I don't feel like cooking, this super easy blanched lettuce comes to mind. All you need to do is just separate the leaves and blanch them in the water for five minutes. The vibrant green colour of the lettuce leaves are always so appetizing. Adding the oil in the water is the key to give the green colour. Hope you enjoy this recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

1 Iceberg lettuce 

2 tablespoons Salt

1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil

Oyster Sauce (to serve)

DIRECTION:

1. Cut off the core of the lettuce. Carefully separate the lettuce leaves.

2. Bring a boil of water to a boil. Add oil and salt.

3. Add a handful of lettuce leaves into the water. Blanch them until wilt; about 1 minute. Scoop the lettuce from the water; drain well. Repeat the process until finish cooking all the lettuce.

4. Serve it with dashes of oyster sauce.

Marinated Young Cabbage with Fermented Soybean Sauce 黃豆醬伴白菜

The look of soybean paste

INGREDIENTS:

2 Young Cabbage

1 heap spoon Chinese Fermented Bean Sauce

1 tablespoon White Sesame Seeds, toasted

1 teaspoon Sesame Oil

DIRECTION:

1. Cut off the end of the cabbage and loosen the leaves.  Soak and rinse the cabbage in water until clean; drain.

2. Bring a pot of water to a boil.  Add about 1.5 tablespoons salt.  Add cabbage.  Blanch until it is slightly soft; about 20-30 seconds.  Quickly remove cabbage from the hot water and plunge it into cold water to stop the cooking process.  Gently squeeze out the water from the cabbage and set it in a mixing bowl.

3. In the mixing bowl, add fermented bean sauce, sesame seeds and sesame oil.  Toss it gently with hand until well coated.  Serve it steamed rice.

Crunchy Salad Green and Strawberry Salad with Fresh Strawberry Vinaigrette | 青脆草莓沙律配草莓醋汁

Although it is nearly the end of the summer the weather is still so hot and humid.  It is joyful to have a big bowl of crunchy salad that is packed with leafy greens and juicy fruit.

For the dressing, I used fresh strawberries to make the vinaigrette, adding another layer of fruitiness.  After trying this dressing, you will agree how much it goes well with the greens.

INGREDIENTS: (2 servings)

1 cup Baby Arugula

2 cups Cabbage, shredded

10 Strawberries, hulled and quarter

1 Mini Cucumber

A handful of Walnut, roasted

DRESSING:

6 Strawberries, hulled, quarter

2 tablespoons Sugar

5 tablespoons Olive Oil

3 tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar

small pinch of Salt and Pepper

材料：(2 人份)

1 杯  芝麻菜

2 杯  椰菜，切幼絲

10 粒  草莓，去蒂，切4份

1 條  迷你青瓜

少量  合核，烤過

汁料：

6 粒草莓，去蒂，切4份

2 湯匙  糖

5 湯匙  橄欖油

3 湯匙  意大利黑醋

少撮鹽和黑胡椒粉

DIRECTION:

1. In a small mixing bowl, mash the strawberries from the dressing ingredients along with the sugar, until there are no big chunks.

2. Add the rest of the dressing ingredients; mix well.

3. On a serving plate, arrange the salad ingredients.  Drizzle the strawberry vinaigrette.  Serve immediately.

做法：

1. 在一只小碗內，加入汁料用的草莓。用搗碎器壓至無大顆粒。

2. 下所有汁料用的材料；拌勻。

3. 沙律材料在餐碟上排盤；淋上草莓醋汁食用。

Naturally Fermented Purple Cabbage | 天然酵母醃酸椰菜

A couple weeks ago, I bought a purple cabbage to make a salad for a family event.  Although I already chose the smallest size of the purple cabbage, it was still as large as a basketball.  I tried my best to use the cabbage to make a salad with twenty servings, but there was no way for me to use the whole thing.  So I saved the rest for this recipe.

This recipe is almost identical to the the Fermented Cabbage I posted a long time ago.  You can skip the carrots in this recipe, but the taste will be different, because the carrots bring extra sweetness to the cabbage, which I found balances it very well.  This fermented cabbage can be served with grilled meat, on hot dogs, tacos, or even sushi.

I hope you will enjoy the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 head Purple Cabbage, small

4 Carrots, peeled and cut into large sticks

1/2 tablespoon All Purpose Flour

Water

Salt

材料：

1/2 頭  紫椰菜

4 條  甘筍，切粗條

1/2 湯匙  麵粉

水

鹽

METHODS 做法:

1. Cut the cabbage into thin strips.  Place the cabbage in a large bowl and add in 1 heap teaspoon of salt.   Rub until it is well combined; let it sit for 20 minutes.

2. While waiting for the cabbage, bring a pot of water to a rolling boil.  Then, let it cool to lukewarm temperature.  Stir in the flour; set it aside.

1. 椰菜切幼條；放到大碗中。加入1大菜匙鹽；揉至混合。讓其靜置20分鐘。

2. 等待期間，把大鍋水燒滾。待放暖後，加入麵粉；拌勻。

3. Drain out the released juice from the cabbage.  Rinse the cabbage two times under running water to remove the excess salt; drain well.

4. In a large glass container, toss the carrots and cabbage together.  Pour in the flour water.  The flour will be the natural food source for the bacteria during the fermenting process.

3. 倒掉椰菜洗出來的水，再用清水洗椰菜兩次，沖走多餘鹽份。

4. 在一大只玻璃器皿內，混合甘筍和椰菜。注入麵粉水。麵粉水會在發酵期間用作酵母的天然食糧。

5. Place a dish upside down on top of the cabbage mixture.  Make sure the vegetables are totally submerged in the water.  Otherwise, it will result in mold.

6. Then, Cover the pot with a piece of plastic wrap to prevent air or other moisture to go in.

5. 用碟子蓋上椰菜面；麵粉水要完全浸過椰菜和甘筍，以防發霉。

6. 在玻璃器皿上再蓋上一層保鮮膜；以防水氣進入。

7. Let it sit in a corner without direct sunlight for 14 days, while waiting for the sour flavour to develop.

One thing to mind is that the liquid may smell unpleasant in the first couple days for some noses due to the sulphur contained in the cabbage.  It is kind of like rotten eggs if I have to say it; however, the smell should go away when it comes to the second week.  Check the pot (without opening the lid) to see if any mold developed.  If so, the batch is bad and should be discarded.  No messing with mold. 

7. 放到陽光不能直射的地方發酵14天。

頭一星期，椰菜的特殊氣味會明顯較大，似壞了的雞蛋。但進入第八天，氣味會大減。檢查 (不開封) 液體周邊是否有霉。如發現，便不能食用，要把椰菜倒掉。

Fermented Cabbage ｜ 自製酸白菜

When it comes to home fermentation, a lot of people will be skeptical of trying.  Me too!  I still remember the first time I made kombucha and yogurt at home.  It was exciting but also a very stressful experience.  I worried I would poison my family with the unknown bacteria I might accidentally cultivate during the fermentation process.

As time passed, I realized that as long as you keep good hygiene during the process, control the right temperature, and use reliable ingredients, you usually will get a promising result.

The attraction to fermentation for me is that I can see the changes in the ingredients each day.  They may change colours and forms, or they may multiply and expand.  In any case, fermentation always makes good things better.  I can sit in front of my fermenting projects and watch the mould or bubbles floating around in the jars for a full hour (and I am sure my husband notices this little weird hobby of mine).

Last month, my Taiwanese friend gave me some of her homemade fermented cabbage.  I cut it up and added it to some rice cake soup.  Oh my!  That was delicious!  That was absolutely delicious!  So I  asked her for the recipe right away and she generously shared it.

Since this fermented cabbage takes at least two weeks to make, you may want to make a little more to make the waiting time worth it.  We three condo homesteaders don't have this privilege though.  Our fridge is too small that it will be a luxury to store two heads of cabbage at the same time.  So I store and eat one while fermenting another one.  When the winter comes, when I can use the balcony as an extra fridge, I will make a larger batch that can last through spring. (Good plan, isn't it?)

Fermented Cabbage

Ingredients:

Cabbage

Salt

Flour

How to make:

1. Rinse the outer layer of the cabbage; dry well.  Hold the cabbage with the stem up, and cut an X into the stem without cutting through the body, or the leaves will fall apart.  Gently spilt the cabbage into quarters.

2. On each leaf, rub a thin layer of salt.  Put the cabbage in a bowl and place some heavy object on top to compress the cabbage for several hours.  This process releases the "green taste" water from the cabbage.

3. Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to a rolling boil.  Add in the amount of salt that you would normally use for your soup.  Remove the water from the heat and allow it to cool completely   This water is the liquid to ferment the cabbage later.

4. After the salted water is completely cooled, stir in a heap tablespoon of flour.  The flour is the food for the bacteria during the fermentation process.

5. Pour out the "green taste" water from the cabbage.

6. With clean hands or tongs, transfer the cabbage into the flour water.  Make sure all the cabbage wedges are completely submerged.  Place an up-side-down plate on the top to prevent the cabbage from floating to the top.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and then cover the pot with the lid.  keep it at room temperature for two weeks without disturbing it.

The look during the two weeks' fermentation (from clockwise): The first day, 3 days after the fermentation, one week after the fermentation, and two weeks after the fermentation.

*If the liquid is still clear after a few days, it means your work will likely pay off.  However, if the water turns cloudy or generates an unpleasant smell, you need to throw it away because the cabbage turns bad and is unsafe for consumption.  I succeeded on this recipe the first try so I am sure you should have no problem with it too.  Just make sure to keep everything clean.

Remember to always use a glass bowl to ferment things

When I just started to learn to ferment or pickle things, I often used stainless steel bowls and I would even leave the ingredients in the bowls overnight.  But soon, I realized those stainless steel bowls "got eaten" and there were many tiny holes all over the bowl.  I couldn't figure out the cause until my husband told me it was the salt.  Salt eats everything.  "Think about how the road salt damages cars in winter", he said.   Since then, I only stick to a glass bowl when it comes to fermentation or pickling.  So no more bowls "got eaten" and I am not worried any harmful substance will leak into my food.

Now these delicious cabbage wedges are ready to go to zip-lock bags and kept in the fridge until needed.