Nun and Top Chef: The Love for Fermentation

Jeong Kwan is one of Asia's 50 best chefs and was the star of the Netflix series Chef's Table. But the nun does not run a restaurant, but cooks in a temple in Korea. Now the visionary came to Sihlcity and talked about her art of cooking: fermenting.

The "New York Times" calls her dishes a revelation. For Jeong Kwan, cooking is simply a way of expressing feelings. The Buddhist nun cooks in a temple in the mountains, three hours by bus from the South Korean capital Seoul. Her cooking does without meat, dairy products, onions and garlic, yet is rich in complex flavors. That's because Jeong Kwan is a true master of fermentation. To talk about this passion, she now left the seclusion of her temple and traveling to Switzerland, or more precisely to Sihlcity: on September 15, the Korean spoke about the magic of Korean fermentation at the "Soil to Soul" festival.

The ancient technique is also being rediscovered outside Korea. The invention of the refrigerator had caused this form of food preservation to be forgotten in the West. But fermentation is about much more than preserving food. The fermentation process stimulates probiotic processes that have a positive effect on intestinal flora and general health. Most importantly, fermentation brings new flavors to life. The fifth flavor, umami, unfolds with a spicy, complex depth of flavor. Top chefs around the globe are therefore using fermented foods to add this extra dimension to their dishes. The best restaurant in the world, Noma in Copenhagen, operates an entire fermentation lab. Its chef René Redzepi has dedicated a 450-page cookbook to the subject.

But you don't have to be a Buddhist nun or a star chef to ferment. The principle behind it is simple: while food is stored in an air-impermeable vessel in a brine, carbohydrates are converted to lactic acid with preservative properties. The pH value drops and an acidic environment is created in which unhealthy germs cannot thrive and spoil the food. At the same time, the fermented product changes in nutritional value, texture and taste. Or as Jeong Kwang puts it, "When you ferment a food, you transform it, give it a new life."

Fermented Mixed Vegetables

Different vegetables, herbs and spices can be combined for this recipe - let your imagination run wild! This fermented vegetable is eaten raw, for example as part of a salad, in a sandwich or with a raclette.

Ingredients

• Fresh firm vegetables, e.g. carrots, radishes, kohlrabi, snap peas, fennel, cauliflower, red cabbage, celery stalks
• Cabbage leaf 
• Other ingredients as desired, e.g. fresh dill, coriander, garlic, pepper, mustard seeds
• Salt without iodine and fluorine
• Round canning jar with clamps and rubber ring, e.g. Weck jar or IKEA cork jar
• Ceramic or glass weight, e.g. saucer or glass dish

Preparation

Wash the vegetables with cold water and peel if necessary. Cut everything into bite-sized pieces. Then fill the fermentation jar: first put the spices and herbs in the jar, then the vegetables. This order prevents the spices and herbs from floating on the surface during fermentation and causing mold. Depending on the size of the jar, leave a 3-4cm rim free so that enough brine can be poured in.

The beneficial lactic acid bacteria are promoted in a low oxygen environment, the bad bacteria and mold in a high oxygen environment. Therefore, it is very important that oxygen does not reach the vegetables during the entire fermentation period. This is ensured by covering the vegetables with a cabbage leaf and weighing them down with a weight. The weight is necessary because the carbonic acid of the lactic acid bacteria pushes the vegetables upwards during fermentation.  

So now the vegetables are covered with a cabbage leaf. It is important that the cabbage leaf is cut to fit, so that the cabbage leaf is also completely covered by the brine. Then add the weight.

Now mix a 2% brine: this means that two grams of salt are used per deciliter of water. Depending on the size of the jar, a different amount of brine must be prepared, for example, for 2dl of water 4g of salt is used, for 3dl of water 6g of salt. The salt is stirred into the lukewarm water. When the salt is completely dissolved, pour the brine into the jar. After adding the brine, close the jar. It is imperative that the jar be fitted with a rubber ring and clamps so that the resulting carbon dioxide can escape when the jar is closed - a screw-top jar may explode under the resulting pressure.

In the first two weeks, the bacteria are often very active, which means that together with the carbonic acid, brine also escapes from the ferment. Therefore, the jar should be filled to the brim with brine and placed on a plate during fermentation to catch the escaping brine. Do not open the jar for the first 2 weeks as it is under high pressure.

The jar is now ready for fermentation. To do this, place it in a shady place at room temperature (18-22 degrees) for 2 weeks and do not open it during fermentation to prevent fresh oxygen from entering. 2 weeks is the minimum, so that the ferment is sufficiently acidic to make it durable. Then store the jar in a cool cellar (7-12 degrees) or refrigerator and consume within 6 months.

Notes

• After fermenting for two weeks at room temperature, a pH of 4.6 is reached and the ferment is preserved.
• Soft and sugary vegetables require a higher brine concentration of 3-5%.
• Even in the refrigerator, the vegetables should always be covered with the fermented brine.
• Raw, the vegetables are packed with beneficial bacteria, vitamins, enzymes and more.

Recipe source: Franziska Wick, certified fermentista, fermentista-academy.ch