Fermented Foods from Harvard Health Publishing
What Are Fermented Foods?
Fermented foods are foods or beverages that are produced through controlled microbial growth, and the conversion of food components through enzymatic action. Common fermented foods include kefir, kombucha, sauerkraut, kimchi, miso, pickles, and sourdough bread. Fermentation is used to preserve foods and enhance certain properties, like touch or texture. For example, olives are almost inedible on their own, but once they undergo fermentation, they taste much better. Fermented foods are preserved using a process that prolongs shelf-life and adds nutritional value to what you eat.
Benefits of Fermented Foods
Fermented foods are important in almost every culture in the world. They have become exceedingly popular in the West for their proposed health benefits and interest in gastrointestinal health. There are many benefits to fermented foods. For example, they contain many healthful probiotics that promote good digestion. These can all be found in naturally fermented foods such as kefir, kimchi, sauerkraut, and some pickles. However, some pickles from the supermarket are pickled using vinegar rather than the natural fermentation process. So those pickles do not reap the same benefits as a naturally fermented pickle.
Kefir
Kefir is a bubbly yogurt-like drink with a sour taste. It is made by adding kefir grains to milk. These grains contain lactose and non-lactose fermenting yeasts, lactic and acetic acid producing bacteria, and kefiran. There is a dairy-free kefir option, too. This is made with water, sugar and water kefir grains that contain bacteria and yeasts different from traditional kefir. There is not a lot of evidence on water kefir and its benefits, so traditional kefir remains more popular. Kefir works well with people who have a trouble absorbing lactose. It can help with various digestive problems and a greater increase in stool.
Kombucha
Kombucha is a fermented tea beverage that is produced through aerobic fermentation of black or green tea and white sugar by a combination of bacteria and yeast. Kombucha has a low pH which results in a high concentration of acetic acid and gives it its famously bitter taste. Kombucha helps with digestion, gets rid of toxins in the body and boosts energy.
Sauerkraut
Sauerkraut is a preserved cabbage that is produced from combining shredded cabbage and salt. It has a low pH once it finishes fermenting. Sauerkraut improves digestion, boosts the immune system, helps with weight loss, can reduce the risk of certain cancers, promotes heart health and stronger bones, and reduces stress.
Pickles
Pickles can be naturally fermented or pickled with vinegar. Naturally fermented pickles reap real benefits such as improved digestion. They are food of probiotics and antioxidants. Regular pickles from the supermarket are pickled with vinegar, which removed many of these positive benefits.
I have pickled multiple things with my grandmother, which is different from naturally fermented pickles, as I stated above. I want to naturally ferment pickles and see the difference between the two in taste and health benefits. I found this recipe for spicy pickled vegetables knows as escabeche.
Spicy pickled vegetables (escabeche)
Ingredients
- 2 cups filtered water
- 1 to 1-1/4 tablespoons sea salt
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 jalapeño or a few small hot chiles (or to taste), sliced
- 1 large carrot cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds or diagonal slices
- 1 to 2 cups chopped cauliflower or small cauliflower florets
- 3 small stalks celery (use only small inner stalks from the heart), cut into 1-inch-long sticks
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cabbage leaf, rinsed
Warm the water (no need to boil). Stir in the sea salt until it dissolves completely. Set aside to cool (use this time to cut the vegetables). Add the vinegar just before using. The brine can be made ahead of time and stored in a sealed glass jar on the counter to use when ready to pickle.
Set a quart-size canning jar in the sink and fill it with boiling water to sterilize. Empty the jar and tightly pack the vegetables and bay leaf inside to within 1 to 2 inches from the top of the jar. Pour the brine over the vegetables to fill the jar to within 1 inch from the top. Wedge the cabbage leaf over the top of the vegetables and tuck it around the edges to hold the vegetables beneath the liquid.
Set jar on the counter and cover with a fermentation lid. (Alternatively, use a standard lid and loosen it a bit each day for the first few days, then every other day, to allow gasses to escape.) Let pickle for three to five days, depending on the indoor temperature. Check the taste after a couple of days, using clean utensils. Vegetables will pickle faster in warmer climates. Make sure the vegetables stay packed beneath the level of the liquid and add salted water (2 teaspoons sea salt dissolved in 1 cup warm filtered water) as needed.
When the vegetables are pickled to your liking, seal the jar with a regular lid and refrigerate. Vegetables will continue to slowly pickle in the refrigerator. They will keep for about one month. Taste for saltiness before serving and, if desired, rinse gently to remove excess salt.
Blog post by Skylor Tucker