Well, not a formal recipe. But a process.
I like to use Napa cabbage. It's cheap, tastes good and is easy to work with. But other Oriental cabbage will work also. Slice up a 2-3 lb cabbage and put into a bowl or crock. Add 1 tbsp salt per lb (pure salt - no iodine or anti-caking chemicals). Fill the bowl/crock with water past the level of the cabbage, put a plate on the cabbage and weight it down so that all the cabbage is underwater. Try to get all the air out under the plate. I'll be making some this weekend and I can email you a photo if this is at all confusing. I let my cabbage stand like this for 4-5 days to get a good lactic fermentation. I usually cover it with a cloth to keep bugs out, but fruit flies don't seem to like lactic fermentation. I skim the muck off as necessary. It's harmless. Then I drain and rinse the cabbage, keeping it soggy so I'll have juice to cover it when I put it in jars. Then I chop the cabbage a bit more, add 1 tbsp good salt, 1 tbsp brown sugar, chopped hot peppers to taste, garlic, leeks or other Allium genus to taste (regular onion doesn't seem right). Garlic shoots might be available right now and they would work well. Ramps are good if you can get them. Sometimes I add grated ginger, sometimes I don't. I also use 3-4 tbsp fish sauce per jar. It is available at oriental grocers. Daikon radish is good, and I might even add carrots. Then press into jars (you'll be surprised how that big Napa became so small when you do this). I let it sit with the cap loose for 3-4 days before I eat it, but if I have more than what will take to fill my jars, I eat it fresh. The optimum temperature for further fermentation is around 55 F, but that might be difficult to achieve. I'd alternatively refrigerate and leave out (don't tighten the lid past the ability for CO2 to escape). I think the lactic fermentation keeps the bad bugs out, but if it gets too hot and the vegetables aren't completely submerged, you might get scum forming and mushiness of the exposed vegetables. If you need to add something with preservatives or vinegar (I can get fresh fish sauce at a Vietnamese store, but you might only get it with preservatives), then add it after letting the rest of the mixture sit for 3-4 days for optimum lactic fermentation. But the main thing is the cabbage fermentation. Everything else is according to taste. Here's what my fermenting Napa looks like. Cabbage held down by a plate with a heavy bowl and a can of peaches. Not really pretty, but it works.Eatmore T.
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