Suan Cai Recipe: Dongbei Sour Napa Cabbage and the Four-Week Wait
Suan cai is Northeast China's sour cabbage: napa cabbage, usually blanched in boiling water, weighed down with a stone in salted water and fermented for about a month.…
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Fermented Foods of East Asia
Fermented foods and drinks from China, Japan and Korea: soybean pastes, koji, pickles, rice wines and fermented tea.
Zha Cai: Fuling’s Pressed Mustard Tuber, and a Kohlrabi Version to Make at Home
Zha cai is the salted, pressed and fermented stem of tuber mustard (Brassica juncea var. tumida) from Fuling, Chongqing, dated to 1898. Industrially it's pickled three times in…
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Kasuzuke Recipe: Japanese Sake Lees Pickles, From Quick Vegetables to Nara-zuke
Kasuzuke are Japanese foods cured in sake kasu, the lees pressed from sake mash, which contains about 8% alcohol. Nara-zuke, the best-known kind, is salted melon or other…
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Jiu Niang (Lao Zao): Chinese Sweet Fermented Glutinous Rice, and How to Make It
Jiu niang (lao zao in Sichuan) is Chinese sweet fermented glutinous rice: steamed sticky rice mixed with a jiuqu starter and kept warm for about two days, until…
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Hong Qu (Red Yeast Rice): The Chinese Red Mould Rice, and Why It’s Not a Home Project
Hong qu, or red yeast rice, is cooked rice fermented with the mould Monascus purpureus until it turns deep red; it colours char siu, red-braised pork and Fujian…
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Cheonggukjang Recipe: Korean Fast-Fermented Soybeans for Stew
Cheonggukjang is Korea's fast soybean ferment: soft-cooked soybeans held at about 40–42°C for 48–72 hours, fermented by Bacillus bacteria like natto, then mashed – often with a little…
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Umeboshi Recipe: How to Make Japanese Salted Ume Plums at Home
Umeboshi are Japanese ume (Prunus mume) packed in 15–18% salt for about a month, colored with red shiso and sun-dried. Traditional salt-pickled umeboshi contain 18.2 g salt per…
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Natto Recipe: How to Make Japanese Fermented Soybeans at Home
Natto is Japanese fermented soybeans: soft-cooked whole soybeans inoculated with Bacillus subtilis var. natto and held at about 40–42°C for 18–24 hours, then refrigerated. Per 100 g it…
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Doenjang: How Korean Soybean Paste Is Made, and Doenjang vs Miso
Doenjang is Korea's fermented soybean paste. Cooked soybeans are formed into meju blocks and fermented for weeks by Bacillus bacteria and molds, then soaked in strong salt brine:…
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Makgeolli Recipe: How to Brew Korean Rice Wine at Home With Nuruk
Makgeolli is Korea's milky, lightly fizzy rice wine: steamed rice is fermented with water and nuruk – a starter cake of molds, yeasts and lactic acid bacteria –…
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Doubanjiang: Sichuan Chili Bean Paste – How It’s Made and a Home Recipe
Doubanjiang is Sichuan's fermented chili bean paste, best known from Pixian near Chengdu. Broad beans are made into a koji with Aspergillus oryzae, fermented in brine and mixed…
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Pao Cai Recipe: Sichuan Pickled Vegetables in a Reusable Brine
Pao cai is Sichuan's fermented pickle: firm vegetables such as radish, cabbage and long beans submerged in a 6–8% salt brine with Sichuan pepper, chilies and a little…
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Sikhye Recipe: Korean Sweet Rice Punch Made With Barley Malt
Sikhye is a sweet Korean rice drink: cooked rice steeped in barley-malt water at about 55–65°C for 3–5 hours until the grains float, then sweetened, boiled and chilled.…
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How to Make Gochujang at Home: Korean Fermented Chili Paste
Gochujang is Korea's fermented red pepper paste: glutinous rice porridge sweetened by barley-malt enzymes, mixed with meju (fermented soybean) powder, gochugaru and salt, then aged for at least…
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Shio Koji Recipe: How to Make and Use Japanese Salt Koji
Shio koji is a Japanese seasoning of rice koji, salt and water, left at room temperature and stirred daily for 7–14 days until thick, sweet and savory. Enzymes…
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How to Make Miso at Home: Soybeans, Koji and Salt, Aged for Months
To make miso, mash cooked soybeans with rice koji and salt – about 900 g dried soybeans, 900 g koji and 400 g salt, roughly 12% salt overall…
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Pu-erh Tea: Sheng vs Shou, How It’s Fermented, and How to Brew It
Pu-erh is a post-fermented tea from Yunnan, China. Raw (sheng) pu-erh is pressed and aged naturally for years; ripe (shou) pu-erh is fermented in piles for weeks to…
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Sufu (Fermented Bean Curd): White, Red and Grey Furu, and How to Use It
Sufu (furu, fermented bean curd) is tofu fermented by a mold such as Actinomucor or Mucor, then aged in salt and rice wine until creamy, salty and intensely…
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Nukazuke: How to Make and Keep a Japanese Rice Bran Pickling Bed
Nukazuke are Japanese pickles made by burying vegetables in a nukadoko – a fermenting bed of rice bran, salt and water that's stirred daily and kept going for…
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Amazake: How to Make Japanese Sweet Rice Koji Drink (Rice Cooker Method)
Koji amazake is a sweet, non-alcoholic Japanese drink made by holding cooked rice, rice koji and water at 50–60°C for several hours, until the koji's enzymes have turned…
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