You are not limited to cabbage and cucumbers. There are dozens of other vegetables, not to mention fruits, grains, and other foods, that can be fermented with a probiotic culture. In general, firmer vegetables and fruits hold up better than soft ones in fermentation. Carrots, beets, celery, onions, fennel, garlic, green beans, radishes, jicama, and cauliflower are examples of relatively firm vegetables, while apples, cranberries, peaches, and plums are some good fruits to try in chutneys, relishes, and jams.
Grains and other carbohydrates can ferment well also. After all, breads and beers are fermented with yeast, and both are grain-based. However, probiotic grain dishes are rarer than fermented dairy and vegetable dishes. Fermented porridges are staples in Africa and we have one recipe here for a porridge drink. Rejuvelac is another grain-fermented drink that is an American health beverage. Poi, the traditional Hawaiian and Polynesian dish, involves fermenting the starchy taro root. There is a fermented Corn Salsa recipe here as well.
Fermenting proteins, such as beans, eggs, and meats, is more difficult because the species of organisms we consider probiotic are not necessarily the same ones needed to ferment proteins. Italian salami and Chinese thousand-year-old eggs are some examples of fermented proteins, but the process tends to be complex and not necessarily probiotic. I have included a handful of simple-to-prepare probiotic protein dishes, some of which simply involve adding yogurt, sauerkraut, or another source of probiotics to your food before consuming it.
Fermented Green Tea Salad (Burmese Lahpet)
Makes 1 family-sized “salad”
If you like drinking green tea, have you ever thought of eating it? If you can find a Burmese restaurant, this traditional dish usually appears on the menu. Though it is considered a salad, this dish is quite heavy and high in protein. Enjoy lahpet with rice, as a side dish, or mixed with additional cabbage or lettuce to make a healthy, nutty salad. I have adapted the basic recipe somewhat to make it a bit lighter (the original version is very high in fat and calories due to all the nuts, seeds, and deep-fried beans). I also have substituted sauerkraut for the cabbage, but you can use plain, unfermented cabbage if you prefer. This is a great way to use leftover tea leaves if you make your own whole leaf green tea. If you are not a green tea drinker, then you can steam some green tea leaves for 5–10 minutes or soak them in hot water for 2–3 hours. Note that the measurement for green tea leaves refers to the proper quantity of dried tea leaves; these will expand a good deal once soaked or steamed.
Fermented tea leaves:
• ½ cup dry green tea leaves (use a whole-leaf tea), steamed or soaked
• ½ inch ginger, peeled and finely minced
• 2–3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 tablespoons yogurt whey, water kefir, or vegetable culture
• ½ teaspoon salt
Additional salad ingredients:
• ½ cup sauerkraut
• 3 large red tomatoes, cut into 1–2-inch pieces
• ¼ cup broccoli, raw or blanched, cut into 1–2-inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons roasted peanuts
• 2 tablespoons roasted pumpkin seeds
• 2 tablespoons roasted sesame seeds
• ¼ cup cooked garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
• ¼ cup cooked beans (preferably lima or butter beans, but you can use pinto, black, or kidney)
Optional: Traditional Lahpet uses dried shrimp, which I have replaced with broccoli. Also, feel free to increase the quantities of the nuts and seeds, which I have cut down by about 50 percent each due to the high caloric content of the final product. To make this spicy, you can add chopped green chilies or dried red pepper flakes.
Dressing:
You may not need much dressing if you use sauerkraut. Mix approximately equal parts lime juice, soy sauce, and either peanut oil or sesame oil, going lighter on the soy sauce if you have used sauerkraut and/or if any of your nuts or seeds are presalted. You can vary these proportions to taste, including a little honey or sugar in your dressing if you prefer a sweeter version.
After cooling the soaked or steamed green tea leaves, place them on a cutting board and cut each leaf in half. Place in a container or bowl, add crushed garlic, ginger, salt, lemon juice, and culture, mix this up, and cover the container or bowl. Let it ferment at room temperature for 24–48 hours.
In a salad bowl, mix together fermented tea leaves with other ingredients. Taste before adding any dressing, and then add as much as you need. Lahpet will keep in the refrigerator for at least a week, so you don’t need to eat it all at once!
Marinated Mushrooms
Makes about 2½ cups
If you love marinated mushrooms, try out this fermented favorite. The mushrooms are cooked in this recipe, but if you prefer to leave them raw, just skip the cooking step and combine all ingredients in a jar or container (leaving out the onion if you wish). I cook them because mushrooms have a lot of air in them and I worry that leaving any air pockets could result in contamination. Cooking also yields a more uniform, marinated texture. This recipe uses a water sauté for the cooking, after which you can dump both the mushrooms and the cooked fluid into the ferment.
• 1 pound mushrooms, washed and halved or quartered
• ½ cup onion, chopped
• ½ cup water for cooking
• Small handful of fresh herbs of your choice, such as thyme, marjoram, oregano, dill, or rosemary
• 3 cups water
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 teaspoons whey or starter culture
First, sauté mushrooms and onions in water until onions are translucent and mushrooms are soft. After cooling these to room temperature, move the mushrooms and cooking fluid into a jar or container. Dissolve the salt in the remaining water. Add all other ingredients and then fill (to one inch below the top) with the salt water. Cover loosely and let the ‘shrooms ferment at room temperature for 3 days. Then cover and refrigerate for up to one or two weeks.
Sauer Guacamole Dip
Makes 4–6 servings
3–4 ripe avocadoes
• ½ cup sauerkraut, finely chopped
• Juice of ½ lemon or lime (start with less and increase it to taste)
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon chives or scallion, finely chopped
• ¼ cup tomato or red bell pepper, diced
• 2 tablespoons yogurt
• Sea salt, to taste
• Optional: handful of fresh cilantro, finely chopped
Peel avocadoes and mash them with a fork, adding lemon juice right away to prevent them from turning brown (oxidizing). Stir in other ingredients. Taste and adjust salt to your liking. If you eat this with salted tortilla chips, remember that your dip may not need much salt.
Corn Salsa
Makes about 4 cups
Probiotic corn salsa provides a taste of Latin America with a cultured twist. Fresh summer corn makes a great addition to salsa. If you would like, you can add cooked black beans to this dish for a true Southwest dip. For a mild version that is more like a relish, omit the chopped jalapeno peppers and cayenne pepper powder. If you use probiotic pickle juice as a starter culture, then you will need less salt than if your starter culture is yogurt whey or water kefir.
As with some other recipes, the probiotic part comes from adding yogurt or kefir culture when you make the salsa. But you are welcome to let it marinate and ferment for a longer period of time if you wish. This turns the corn slightly sour and increases the probiotic content. If you opt for a longer ferment, then I recommend holding the chopped tomatoes and cilantro, adding these after the fermentation is complete, since they do not hold up as well as the corn.
• 1½ cups fresh corn (cut from the cob)
• 1½ cups fresh tomatoes, chopped
• ¼ cup red onions or scallions, diced
• ½ cup cilantro, chopped
• ¼ cup peppers, chopped
• Jalapeno pepper, diced (to taste, 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon)
• 1 clove garlic, crushed or diced
• Sea salt, pepper, cayenne pepper to taste
• Juice of 1 lime
• 2–3 tablespoons starter culture
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Optional: ¼ cup cooked black beans
Place all ingredients (except tomatoes, cilantro, and olive oil) into a bowl or container, and stir with a spoon, making sure to coat all the corn and vegetables with the probiotic starter culture fluid. Add ½ teaspoon salt, taste it, and then add more salt if needed. This will not be the final salting opportunity, but you want a tasty brine for the fermentation. Also add as much chopped jalapeno and chili pepper powder as you wish. Then cover the bowl or container, put it in a quiet place, and let it sit for 6–12 hours.
Uncover the bowl or container. Check to see how much fluid is at the bottom. If there is an inch or more of fluid, pour some out or ladle it out with a spoon (you can discard or use this as starter for something else). You want this dish to be somewhat wet, but not swimming in brine! Then stir in the tomato, cilantro, and olive oil, taste it again, and adjust the final saltiness and spiciness to taste. Enjoy with chips.
Dolmas (Grape Leaves Stuffed with Herbed Rice)
Makes about 16–24 dolmas (depending on size of leaf wraps)
Dolmas are a traditional food of the Mediterranean region, particularly popular in Greece and Turkey. There are many variations, some using ground lamb and others using dried currants or raisins. Most dolmas have a sour-salty flavor accented by dill, mint, cumin, allspice, and/or other flavors. Traditionally, lemon juice or vinegar is used to achieve the sour taste, but this recipe uses lactofermentation as well.
This is a two-step recipe. Step one involves fermenting the grape leaves, which serve as the wraps for the rice dish. Since there are various types of grapes that grow from the tropics to the far north, hopefully you can pick these fresh. For step one, I have borrowed from the fermented grape leaves recipe in Sally Fallon Morell’s excellent book, Nourishing Traditions. Step two, the rice recipe, is mine. It uses some yogurt, so you do not need to ferment the whole dish separately unless you wish to do so. As always, you are free to take this in another direction by making it sweeter (add dried currants or raisins), saltier (add kalamata olives), or nuttier (add chopped almonds or pine nuts).
Step one: Fermented Grape Leaves
• 24 grape leaves, medium sized
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 4 tablespoons whey/cultured liquid
• 2 cups water
Wash leaves and stack them in a bowl. Dissolve salt in water, add whey/culture, and pour this liquid over the grape leaves. Place a smaller bowl or plate on top of the grape leaves to weigh them down so they remain submerged in the liquid. Cover the bowl with a cheesecloth or napkin, set aside, and let the leaves ferment for 3 days. Then transfer the leaves carefully into a pint jar, fill this (to one inch below the top) with the liquid, cover it with the lid, and refrigerate for up to one week.
Step two: Rice Filling
• 2 cups water, plus more if needed
• 1 cup brown rice
• 1 onion, chopped
• ½ cup parsley, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 3 lemons, cut in half and seeded
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ½ stick celery
• ¼ cup mint, chopped
• 1 tablespoon dried dill
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• ¼ cup yogurt
• Optional: ½ cup pine nuts or chopped almonds, ¼ cup dried currants or raisins, ¼ cup chopped kalamata olives
Sauté onion, garlic, and celery in olive oil at bottom of stockpot or soup pot. Add rice, water, and all other ingredients except for yogurt. Cover this, bring it to a boil, then reduce to a simmer until rice is soft, about 30–45 minutes. Once rice is cooked, remove from heat and cool it to room temperature, then mix in yogurt. Taste the rice mixture and adjust it to your preferences by adding additional yogurt, lemon juice, or sea salt.
Finally, spread out fermented grape leaves on a cutting board or baking sheet. Fill each one with some of the rice mixture, leaving some empty space on each side. Fold up the top and bottom of the grape leaf first, bending each end back as well as you can. Then fold the sides over these, wrapping up the filling as tightly as possible. Turn over each dolma so that these ends are tucked underneath it, helping to secure them in place. You can eat or refrigerate these immediately or let them ferment at room temperature for a few hours longer before enjoying them.
African Millet Beverage (Koko in Ghana or Kunu in Nigeria)
Makes about 2 cups
Koko can be prepared as a drink or a porridge. Traditionally, the raw liquid portion of this is boiled, then cooled, and mixed with the raw, cultured solids to make a fermented gruel or porridge, sometimes called koko or ogi. Feel free to try this as well: I prefer to drink the liquid and feed the solids to the chickens, but perhaps you like spiced millet more than I do! There are many variations of this in West and Central Africa. This is a slightly simplified recipe.
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup CRASH milk, preferably almond milk
• ½ cup millet or sorghum grain
• 1 tablespoon yogurt whey or water kefir
• 1 inch ginger root, peeled and finely chopped
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• ¼ teaspoon cardamom
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ⅛ teaspoon each: cayenne pepper and black pepper
• Honey, sugar, or maple syrup, to taste
Soak millet in water for 8–12 hours. Grind or crush in food processor or by using mortar and pestle. Add spices and salt. Move to jar, container, or pot and cover with water. Cover container and let it ferment at room temperature for 2–3 hours. Pour liquid into a glass, add sweetener to taste, and enjoy.
Poi (Hawaiian Fermented Taro)
Poi, the traditional Hawaiian and Polynesian dish, consists of taro corms or tubers. These are boiled, mashed, and then lactofermented. Poi has a sour flavor that is rather like sourdough. Try eating it with other foods such as meat, fish, beans, vegetables, or other starches.
Traditionally, Polynesians make poi by boiling and peeling taro corms or tubers, mashing them, adding a little water, and then letting it sit for 2–3 days to ferment naturally. You can buy taro roots in the grocery section of most Asian and Latin American food markets. As with other lactofermented foods, you can choose to add some yogurt whey or water kefir for a faster probiotic fermentation, or else just leave it a little longer and let the naturally present bacteria and yeasts ferment it themselves.
• ½ pound taro tubers (or corms)
• Water, as needed
• Optional: yogurt whey, sauerkraut juice, water kefir, or vegetable culture
Wash the taro. Put the tubers in a pot and add enough water to cover them. Cover pot with lid and put it on the stove on high heat. Bring to a boil, then turn down to medium heat. Cook until taro is soft enough that you can stick a fork through it. Pour out water over a colander, straining out the taro. Run some cold water over the taro to cool it. When it is cool enough to touch, gently peel off the skins. Place peeled taro tubers in a bowl or use a mortar and pestle. Mash them using a potato masher or large fork if they are in a bowl. Add a little water to the taro, continuing to mash and mix until it becomes a thin paste. Then mix in any culture you plan to use, cover the taro paste loosely, and allow it to ferment. Taste it after 24 hours and move it to the refrigerator as soon as it is sour enough for you, probably 1–4 days. Poi should last for a couple of weeks in the refrigerator.
Hummus
Makes about 2 cups
This wonderful Middle Eastern spread can anchor a variety of snacks or meals. It has been one of my family’s favorites for many years, and I am glad to see how popular it has become. We normally spread hummus on pita bread, make sandwiches with it, or use it as a dip for vegetable sticks or chips. You can add many additional flavorings to this basic recipe, such as roasted red peppers, olives, or pine nuts. You can cut out the oil for a lower-calorie version—just use a little extra liquid (water, kefir, or yogurt whey) to achieve the consistency you need.
For the creamiest hummus, you will need to either peel the beans (which is tedious) or purée them when they are still very hot from being cooked. If you use canned beans, then heat them up first. Once they are cold, the skin gets too hard to purée them in a food processor and the hummus stays chunkier. One final option is to strain the hummus purée through a tight mesh strainer to remove the pieces of bean skin. I find this step to be more trouble than it is worth, but you are welcome to try it.
• 2 cups garbanzo beans (chickpeas), cooked
• ¼ cup tahini or 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 2–3 tablespoons olive oil
• Juice of 1–3 lemons (about ¼ cup to ½ cup lemon juice), depending on your taste preference
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
• 2 tablespoons yogurt
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• Pinch of black pepper
• Additional water as needed
Purée all ingredients in a food processor. Put the hummus in a container, cover it loosely, and allow it to ferment for 8–12 hours. Then cover it and place in the refrigerator, where it will last for 1–2 weeks. If you wish, reserve some paprika to sprinkle on top before serving.
Egg Salad with Sauerkraut or Pickles
Makes 3–4 servings
This makes a tangy egg salad spread, which is great on bread, crackers, and vegetable sticks (like carrot and celery sticks).
To make hard-boiled eggs, place a pot of water on the stove, and put your eggs inside it. Bring it to a boil, turn down the heat until it is a low boil, and let the eggs cook for 10 minutes. Take them out and rinse in cold water immediately to cool. Peel the eggs and rinse off any remaining pieces of shell. Older eggs are easier to peel than fresher ones.
Chop the hardboiled eggs. In a bowl, combine them with other ingredients and season to taste.
• ½ dozen large eggs, hard-boiled and shelled
• ½ stick celery, finely chopped
• ¼ cup sauerkraut or natural pickles, finely chopped
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder or small clove of fresh garlic, crushed
• 1 teaspoon mustard or mustard powder
• Mayonnaise or yogurt, to taste
• Salt and pepper, to taste
Purple Pickled Eggs
Makes 6 pickled eggs
Pickled eggs are a traditional dish in German, Eastern European, and Jewish cuisines. These cultures have deep pickling traditions—they seem to pickle nearly everything. Though almost anything can be pickled using natural lactofermentation, eggs are one of the more difficult foods to ferment this way. Why? There just isn’t that much ready fuel in eggs for the probiotic organisms. This means they get off to a slower start than they do when you introduce them to the natural sugars of milk, grains, vegetables, or fruits. And slow starts can spell trouble because they leave an opening for molds.
This recipe addresses the problem by submerging hard-boiled eggs in probiotic-cultured brine such as pickle juice. If there’s no open air under the brine, then mold cannot grow there. And it does not really matter whether the eggs themselves get fermented because they will be pickled in probiotic brine anyway. One way or another, they will taste pickled, they will be teeming with probiotics, and they can be safely consumed, which are the three goals of this recipe. The purple color comes from adding beets.
First, you need to create a brine. For this, you can follow the recipe for Naturally Cultured Pickles or for Dilly Beans and Carrot Sticks just using the water and flavoring ingredients but not the main vegetables (the cucumbers, beans, etc.) in those recipes. It is best to have the brine already fermented by the time you combine it with the eggs, giving them the quickest start possible. You will need enough pickling brine to fill one or two large Mason jars or other containers.
• 6 hard-boiled eggs (see page 90)
• ½ cup beets, peeled and sliced (cooked or raw)
• ½ cup sliced onion
• 1 pint to 1 quart pickle juice or probiotic brine (from Naturally Cultured Pickles or for Dilly Beans and Sticks recipe)
• Sea salt, to taste, if pickle brine is not used
Place hard-boiled eggs and vegetables in jars or containers. Leave a few inches of space at the top since the probiotic culture must cover eggs completely. If needed, weigh them down with a cheese weight, a stone that is food-safe, or a smaller container that is filled with water. Let them ferment for 1–2 days, making sure the eggs remain submerged in the brine.
