Kimchi Brussel Sprouts
Recipe
A Fermented Favorite for your Gut Flora
Prep Time: 15 minutes then 6 days for fermenting.
May 23, 2018 • By Seamus Mullen
Our ancestors have intiuitively known for thousands of years the importance of eating fermented foods. To ferment, comes from the latin word fervere to boil because in the fermentation process, as bacteria consumes sugars within the foods we are fermenting; gas is released and a bubbling can be seen, not unlike boiling. What our wise ancestors learned many, many years ago was that if we innoculated foods and beverages with bacteria our bodies could tolerate (or in many cases actually needed) we could slow down the growth of toxic molds that would make us sick. Fermentation is, in a sense, a brilliant way of killing two birds with one stone: we preserve food so it last longer AND we introduce important bacteria to our microbiome.
Fermenting foods at home is not nearly as complex as you might think. This is a simple, cost effective and tasty way of getting fermented foods into your routine. Once you get the bug (pardon the pun) you’ll be fermenting all sorts of veggies at home! One note, make sure to use organic vegetables- conventional vegetables may still have trace amounts of pesticides which often contain antibiotics (yuck!) and will inhibit the growth of ALL bacteria, good and bad!
Ingredients
1 lb of Brussel sprouts, cut in quarters
5 cloves garlic, chopped
10g salt cured anchovies
16g gochujang powder or chile powder
16g fresh ginger
10g sea salt
2g raw honey
8g distilled water
Method
1. Rub the Brussels sprouts and garlic thoroughly with sea salt.
2. Cover with a towel and a weight for 2 hours, then rinse thoroughly with distilled water and set aside to drain.
3. In a food processor, combine gochujang, ginger, anchovies, honey and pulse, then slowly add the water.
4. In a large bowl, combine the paste with the vegetables, wearing gloves, thoroughly mix. Pack into sterilized canning jars, leaving an inch of space at the top. Cover and set aside at room temperature for 6 days, burping daily by pushing down into the brine.
After 6 days transfer to the refrigerator.
