Generally speaking, kimchi in China is a fermented food. Take Chinese cabbage kimchi, the fist product of China traditional kimchi, as an example. It is made by pickling Chinese cabbage with light salt water, then mixing it with the bottom material made of Chili noodles, onions and garlic, and fermenting it in a jar. The raw materials of kimchi in China are all fresh vegetables, which are rich in vitamins, calcium, phosphorus and other inorganic substances, which can not only provide adequate nutrition for human body, but also prevent diseases such as arteriosclerosis. Therefore, kimchi has been an indispensable dish in China's diet since ancient times. When you are a guest in a family in China, kimchi tastes different in every restaurant or family, and everyone has a unique skill that people can taste for a long time. Investigate its reason, China people relish: "A pickle, a love, is the love that people integrate into the traditional diet."

With the development of the times, kimchi has been introduced into China. In the past, rows of pickle jars placed by families in courtyards and cellars disappeared in high-rise metropolises and were replaced by modern pickle factories. Nevertheless, housewives in China still like homemade pickles with unique flavor, but the big jars are replaced by small ones, which are stored in the refrigerator. No wonder large-capacity fresh-keeping refrigerators are very popular in China. I was invited to a friend's house in China. At lunch, I saw a big dish and a small bowl on the table. The host did not introduce several hot dishes, but specifically stated that five or six kinds of pickles on the table were made by his wife herself. After tasting them one by one, they taste really unique, even better than the kimchi in the restaurant. "My wife's kimchi craft is first-class. Neighbors often ask her for guidance. " Men in China seldom praise their wives in front of outsiders, except for the rule of making kimchi.

All kinds of seasonal vegetables, such as Chinese cabbage, cabbage, radish, pepper, celery, cucumber, kidney bean, lettuce and other hard roots, stems, leaves and fruits, can be used as raw materials for making kimchi. Of course, we also need some ingredients, such as salt, ginger slices, pepper, fennel, yellow wine and so on. Naturally, a pickle jar is essential for making pickles. In China, people use a jar with a protruding mouth and a concave tray around it (that is, a water tank, which can hold water). The jar that can be sealed with a bowl can accelerate the fermentation of kimchi and produce a lot of lactic acid in the absence of oxygen. If there is no pickle jar, other containers can be used instead, but the container mouth should be large, tightly sealed and airtight.

Method of making pickle brine: Boil clean water, add salt (80g 1 kg water), and after the salt is completely dissolved, put a proper amount of ingredients into the pickle jar (the salt water should submerge 3/5 of the jar). After the salt water is completely cooled, add the vegetable pieces.

Ingredients can be added according to your different tastes. If you like meat, you can add some pepper, garlic and ginger. If you like spicy food, you can add a little pepper; If you like sweets, you can add some sugar.

Before soaking, peel off the old roots and yellow leaves of various vegetables, wash and dry them, cut them into strips (blocks) and put them in the jar for pickling. When loading vegetables, take up as little space as possible, the liquid level should be close to the jar mouth, and it is advisable to submerge vegetables with salt water. Pour cold water into the sink around the altar mouth, buckle the bowl and put it in the shade. 7 ~ 10 days later. If the prepared kimchi doesn't taste good, you can make some adjustments: if it's not crisp, you can add some wine; If it is too sour, you can add some salt; Mould and bad smell are caused by high temperature in the jar or unclean tools. At this time, mildew should be removed, salt and a small amount of liquor should be added, and it should be moved to a cool place. It will be exposed for about 10 minutes every day, and the mildew will disappear naturally after about 3 ~ 5 days. If kimchi is found to be soft, rotten and smelly, it means that kimchi has deteriorated and cannot be eaten, and vegetable brine can no longer be used.

When making kimchi for the first time, vinegar or sugar can be properly added to accelerate fermentation, increase lactic acid and shorten the time of making kimchi. If kimchi is made of soup stock, it can be eaten after 2 ~ 3 days. The more times the salted water is used, the more delicious the pickled vegetables will be. However, salt, pepper, ginger slices and white wine should be added appropriately according to the amount of vegetables each time.

Use special chopsticks to eat kimchi, and don't bring oil to avoid oil and raw water entering the altar. Kimchi can't be stored for a long time, so you should eat it while soaking. The water tank at the altar mouth should be kept clean and filled with water frequently. If you like spicy taste, you can take out the kimchi and cut it into dices of appropriate size. Add Chili oil and monosodium glutamate, mix well and serve on a plate. This is a common "pickle" in restaurants in China.

pickled vegetables

Practice 1:

Choose a clean pickle jar and put clean cold water in it. The first is to make mother water. Put large pieces of ginger, dozens of peeled garlic pigtails and fresh small red peppers (especially spicy) in the bottle. Then add washed mustard (or cabbage, etc. ) and add half a cup of salt (the amount depends on the taste, but not less). Cover the jar tightly and wait at room temperature for about ten days. At this time, the mother water should have turned sour after eating (sauerkraut is not the result of vinegar), and then the soaked vegetables can be taken out to eat. But at this time, the mother water is not enough to taste, and it needs to be refined many times to become mellow acid water. If conditions permit, you can add some red peppers from China to add flavor, preferably from Hanyuan, not from Thailand. After the first course is successful, you can continue to add new dishes. At this time, part of the mother liquor water in the tank should be put into the refrigerator for later use.

Tips:

1, the trick of making pickles is not to make mother liquor for the first time, but to keep the dynamic balance of brine acidity at any time in the future. If you don't think the salt water is sour enough, you can take spare water from the refrigerator and add it to the jar to promote fermentation. If the salt water is too sour, it is recommended to dump some salt water and add water and salt appropriately.

2. Sometimes when there are white flowers in the bottle, you can pour a few drops of white wine. Generally speaking, mustard, radish (preferably radish skin), cabbage, Jiang Dou and celery are all acceptable.

3. If you want to pursue high precision, you can use ginger, nest bamboo shoots and tender ginger. You need to add another process: soak it in light salt water for one night, then put it in a pickle jar and you can eat it in one day. Good standards are fresh color, mellow taste (not too sour), slightly spicy and concise.

Cucumber can also be soaked, but another bottle must be used. Because cucumbers spoil salt water easily. After soaking, it can be eaten overnight at room temperature.

5. pickles soaked for a long time can be put into bone soup to make sauerkraut soup, which is delicious. Fresh fish slices can also be added, and the so-called pickled fish-a new Sichuan dish popular in recent years-can be served immediately.

6. Dumped salt water can be used as mother water for other families.

7. The key to kimchi is to avoid oil and bacteria. Therefore, the pickle jar should be cleaned and dried before use; The periphery of the pickle jar cover should be sealed with water, and it is forbidden for air to enter and breed bacteria; Every time you take kimchi from the jar, the tools must be special and free from oil stains.

Practice 2:

Raw materials:

Nenjiang bean, carrot, Chinese cabbage, ginger, clear water, salt, dried pepper, brown sugar, white wine, white vinegar and ginger.

Method:

Clean the pickle jar and control the water to dry. Wash the dried peppers first, and control the water. Scrape the ginger and wash it. Put the seasoning into a jar for later use. Pour clean water into the jar, put water at the edge of the jar, and cover it to get pickle water; Wash and dry all kinds of vegetables, put them in a jar and cover them tightly. They can be eaten outdoors in cool weather for 0 to 2 days in summer and 4 to 5 days in winter.

Features:

Various colors, salty and sour, slightly sweet.

1, kimchi must be good salt water (some comrades upstairs call it mother water, but China people generally call it old salt water-when China's daughter got married, the mother had to prepare an altar of old salt water as a dowry, so an altar of old salt water can be passed down from generation to generation, and it is passed down from woman to child). Making salt water is very simple, but it takes a lot of time-first, buy some cheap vegetables, wash them, dry them in the sun (only one or two hours), put them in a ceramic jar (the introduction on the jar upstairs is very detailed, I added that the ceramic jar for making salt water should not be glazed or made of glass), and then add a lot of coarse salt (do not use iodized salt, you can use large granular salt in the north). Repeat this for 3-5 times, leaving only salt water each time until the amount of salt water is about half an altar. The salt water made in this way is still not as fragrant as the real "old" salt water, but it can make do.

When the salt water is made, almost everything will be fine. Be sure to soak the dishes at any time and pay attention to adding salt with the dishes at any time. However, it is forbidden to use meat oil, and the water seal of the jar must be tight. This old salt water is very useful. For example, the first step is to make brine. If there is old brine, it is simple: a quarter of old brine can be directly added with salt, water and spices to make kimchi, which is simple.

3, some tips for making delicious kimchi: Put the radish, cabbage (not tender leaves) and other crisp vegetables in the jar for 3 days to eat, combined with the fragrance of the dishes, crisp and delicious, oh, the saliva is flowing out. Pepper and ginger can be soaked for a long time, not only delicious, but also salty. If the radish is soaked for a long time, it can be made into sour radish and sour radish soup to sober up.

In addition, someone mentioned sauerkraut upstairs. The production of sauerkraut is different from kimchi, so don't confuse it with other kimchi.

Supplement: Kimchi doesn't have to be soaked in a special jar. Canned kimchi tastes quite good.

1, the first key to making kimchi is to find a well-sealed cake or jar, which will help kimchi to ferment in water, and the pickled vegetables will be crispy and delicious without sour teeth.

2. The turnover rate of kimchi should be fast. Why is the kimchi in the restaurant delicious? It is because their kimchi is "kimchi in the bath" (soaked in the evening and eaten in the morning, and eaten within one day), and it is killed when it tastes best. Therefore, if there are not many people at home, it is recommended to soak in a small jar or a large bottle. If bottles are used, it is necessary to check whether the sealant of the bottle cap is intact. When you cover the bottle cap, you need to cover the bottle mouth with two layers of plastic paper or oil paper, and then tighten the bottle cap. The tighter the better.

3, it is best to use kimchi salt, that is, salt that does not contain iodine, otherwise kimchi will easily become soft and sour quickly. Either add enough salt, but the disadvantage is that it is too salty. I don't like it.

4, it is best to use raw water to make brine, such brine is not delicate, and it is not easy to mildew.

Pepper, dried pepper, ginger and a little yellow wine are essential (I think it is best not to use fennel or something). Adding some rock sugar or sesame sugar will make the taste better (sugar is also ok).

6. You can soak anything. In addition to radish, I also soaked sweet pepper, cucumber, lettuce, celery, radish fungus, cowpea, tender ginger, watermelon skin, radish skin, cauliflower stalk, cabbage leaves and stems, Chinese cabbage help, green vegetable help (China people say it is white) ... It is more effective than China people. Ha ha laugh ... I suggest that the materials be dried a little before soaking (sweet peppers and leaves should not be dried for too long), I feel much better than not drying!

7. Finally, there is the carrot mentioned by the landlord, which is the key to raising kimchi water. Water soaked in carrots is not easy to get moldy, and tastes better than water without carrots. I strongly recommend "Rouge Radish" in Nanchong, China. It is red inside and outside and has a special effect of nourishing water. Some people used to say that the water in Shanghai is not suitable for soaking vegetables, but this can be changed. After I returned to Shanghai, I specially asked someone to buy "rouge radish" in China and bring it back. This is a panacea. Pickles suddenly taste different!

There are many dishes in Sichuan cuisine, and kimchi is one of the characteristics. Usually go to Sichuan restaurant, there are always two dishes on the table before dinner. Usually one dish is kimchi and the other is peanuts. There are also two kinds of peanuts, one is fried and crispy, and the other is marinated peanuts. Kimchi has a lot to pay attention to. In China, every household has large and small pickle jars. In the past, a Beijing MM thought kimchi was really delicious, so she asked her neighbor China how to make kimchi and made it herself. The result is always bad. Therefore, people who can cook this kind of kimchi think it is too simple, and people who can't cook it will think it is too strange. Why do they always break?

Tool: A special pottery pickle jar. The unglazed jar outside is called a crock, while the glazed jar looks better. The jar mouth is prominent, and there is a circle of concave trays around the jar mouth (that is, water tanks can hold water). The bowl can seal the jar, which can accelerate the anaerobic fermentation of kimchi and produce a lot of lactic acid. When making kimchi, fill the tray next to it with water to seal the jar and prevent air from entering. If there is no pickle jar, other containers can be used instead, but the container mouth should be large, tightly sealed and airtight. When I was a child, I went to buy kimchi jars with my mother. She always carefully observes whether there are sand holes and cracks on the outside of the jar, which is related to whether it will go bad when making kimchi. A kind of glass jar is very popular now. This jar looks good, and plates of various colors can be seen from the outside. This is also a way for restaurants to attract customers' attention.

Pickles are usually divided into two kinds. Different types, different uses and different practices.

One is diving kimchi. The reason for diving in kimchi is that this dish is soaked in a jar and then quickly taken out to eat. Can be used as a specialty. Usually the assorted pickles in Sichuan restaurant and the side dishes on the table before meals are this kind.

Materials: Cucumber vegetables or hard roots, stems, leaves and fruits are usually used. , and cut into long strips. Meat dishes are usually pig ears, chicken feet and pig offal.

Practice: Boil clean water, add salt (about 50-60 grams of salt per 1 kg of water), and after the salt is completely dissolved, put some ingredients into a pickle jar (3/5 of the jar should be flooded with salt water). After the salt water is completely cooled, add the vegetable pieces. Use special chopsticks to eat kimchi, and don't bring oil, lest oil and raw water enter the jar, otherwise it will grow flowers (white mold will grow on the water surface). The water tank at the altar mouth should be kept clean and filled with water frequently.

How to eat: lettuce, radish and other vegetables only need to be soaked for eight to twelve hours, so that the soaked vegetables are crisp and raw, with a little salty taste, which is very refreshing. If you like spicy food, you can pour some Chili oil and mix some monosodium glutamate, which is a rare delicacy.

The other one is for seasoning. Many famous dishes in Sichuan cuisine are made from this pickle. If you want to cook a special dish, you can soak this kind of kimchi for a few days longer than diving kimchi, about a week to ten days, and it is usually a little more sour than diving kimchi. The other is to soak it in a jar for a long time and only take it out as a seasoning when cooking.

Ingredients: Chili, green vegetables, white radish, cowpea and ginger.

Exercise:

1. Wash and air dry the vegetables to be soaked.

2. Boil clean water, add proper amount of salt (about 80g salt per kloc-0/kg water) and set aside.

3. Pot water: Use the "mother water" in the previous pickle jar, or you can ask some friends who already have pickle jars at home and put them in fresh jar water, which will taste better and contain a lot of lactic acid bacteria. If you can't find it, you must remake it yourself. Pour the cooled clean water into the mother liquor.

4. Add seasoning, pepper, fennel, white wine and jar water to make it.

5. Marinate the prepared vegetables in the jar. When loading vegetables, take up as little space as possible, the liquid level should be close to the jar mouth, and it is advisable to submerge vegetables with salt water. Pour cold water into the sink around the altar mouth, buckle the bowl and put it in the shade.

6. Keep kimchi in a cool place and keep moisture at the mouth of the jar to ensure that no air and bacteria enter the jar. If you find flowers on the altar, add a little white wine.

7. When soaking peppers and vegetables, you can use a little mother liquor, add peppers, and then add salt, one layer of pepper and one layer of salt, and salt water does not have to drown kimchi.

How to eat:

1. In Sichuan cuisine, pickled peppers and pickled ginger are used as seasonings for all dishes with fishy smell. Kimchi is not authentic, and Sichuan food is definitely not authentic.

2. soak radish: choose radish, it will become fat after soaking. You can use three. Stewed duck with four sour radishes, very delicious.

3. Pickled sauerkraut: Pickled sauerkraut is usually added when cooking fish. Pickled fish can also be spicy or not, depending on its taste.

Settings. Sauerkraut can also be made into sauerkraut vermicelli soup, or washed with sauerkraut, shredded, mixed with red pepper and a little monosodium glutamate, which is also a very delicious Chinese breakfast side dish.

4. Soak cowpea: Fried minced meat is a common but delicious side dish.

Remarks: if the prepared kimchi is not suitable for eating, you can make some adjustments: if it is not crisp, you can add some wine; If it is too sour, you can add some salt; Mould and bad smell are caused by high temperature in the jar or unclean tools. At this time, mildew should be removed, salt and a small amount of liquor should be added, and it should be moved to a cool place. It will be exposed for about 10 minutes every day, and the mildew will disappear naturally after about 3 ~ 5 days. If kimchi is found to be soft, rotten and smelly, it means that kimchi has deteriorated and cannot be eaten, and vegetable brine can no longer be used.

Every year, when pickled vegetables, peppers and ginger are ripe, every household in China will buy dozens of kilograms of air-dried pickles. These dishes can be kept in a jar for a year, but the more salt water you use, the better the taste. Just like the old cellar, they can be kept in Mika for a long time.

Raw materials:

Nenjiang bean, carrot, cabbage, ginger, water, salt, dried pepper, brown sugar, white wine, white vinegar and ginger.

Method:

Clean the pickle jar and control the water to dry. Wash the dried peppers first, and control the water. Scrape the ginger and wash it. Put the seasoning into a jar for later use. Pour clean water into the jar, put water at the edge of the jar, and cover it to get pickle water; Wash and dry all kinds of vegetables, put them in a jar and cover them tightly. They can be eaten outdoors in cool weather for 0 to 2 days in summer and 4 to 5 days in winter.

Features:

Various colors, salty and sour, slightly sweet.