• Ganga108 on July 27, 2025

  Shockey mentions in passing in the garlic chapter that whole garlic cloves can be fermented under a basic brine. I am doing that today, and will ferment in the shed. They say the aroma is strong :) Ferments for 3-4 weeks or forever. HOT TIP: I have seen comments on various fermented garlic recipes that the garlic smell pervades the house. I have not had that problem and I think that it is because I am using the burping method - the aroma escapes only in the 1 time per day that I open the jar. If other methods are used - ziplock bag or fermentation lid, the aroma would escape continuously and be free to roam you house.

• Ganga108 on January 23, 2025

  RECOMMENDATIONS FROM FERMENTER FRIEND (when asked for 3 good recipes for beginners): Garlic paste, Turmeric paste, Pickled shiitake.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Arugula kimchi [Yoon Sook-ja in "Good Morning Kimchi"]

  • Ganga108 on January 12, 2025

    Arugula (rocket) needs to sit in brine for several hours or overnight before being placed in a fermentation vessel.

  • Ganga108 on January 12, 2025

    Putting more garden produced to good use. This is one of our fermentation projects for today. I had a lot of rocket from the garden, larger leaves. It brined all day, with 3 cups of the bring, salt, sugar mix, and I tossed often. Next time I'll try sprinkling the salt amongst the leaves and add the water+sugar mix. I think that works faster. UPDATE: Has quite a bite, somewhat salty. I will try a less salty brine next time. There is quite a learning curve to fermenting :). UPDATE ot my favourite kimchi - I have had kimchis better balanced in flavours. But that is likely my problem as it was one of my first ferments and I may have over-fermented and/or over salted, and smaller/younger leaves might work better.

• Whole-leaf fermented basil

  • Ganga108 on January 11, 2025

    Begun today. A little painful to pick all those leaves! Perhaps a paste next time :) UPDATE: The leaves are delicious! They ferment really well, quite fizzy during the fermentation time.

• Basil garlic paste

  • Ganga108 on January 09, 2025

    In the 10th anniversary edition, this is on P154 and includes garlic in the title and ingredients. However the instructions don't address the garlic. I guess it is processed with the basil.

• Dilly beans

  • Ganga108 on March 10, 2026

    I found a lot of green beans this morning for very little $$ so have just made a jar of (fermented) Dilly Beans, to ferment 6-10 days. UPDATE: The beans were tough. I found out afterwards that this is common with mature beans - younger beans are better in a ferment. They weren't even very good cooked, so I whizzed them in a processor till still a bit chunky and then dehydrated them to add to soups etc.

• Curtido rojo

  • patioweather on March 25, 2025

    Extremely basic recipe with just three ingredients: lime, salt, and onion. Easy to follow and riff off of.

• Beet kvass (Russel)

  • Ganga108 on February 19, 2025

    This must be my most favourite ferment so far. I checked Katz's method (Art of Fermentation) and he takes a lighter approach than Shockey - less salt, and tasting from the first day. I used a combo of the two - Shockey's salt leave (as it was quite hot here) and tasting from day 2. On day 3 it tasted out of this world - slightly effervescent, slightly salty, "fermenty" and briny. Each glass was extraordinary (consumed as "shots" or a tonic, rather than a drink). Wisdom is that you can re-ferment the beets, but this didn't work for me as kahm developed. I know that you can remove it or stir it in and still consume the product, but I am not that game yet.

• Golden ginger beet kvass with Meyer lemon

  • Ganga108 on January 27, 2025

    This recipe doesn't appear to be in the 10th anniversary edition.

• Naked kraut

  • Dannausc on August 09, 2018

    Super easy.

• Andrew's private reserve kimchi

  • Dannausc on August 09, 2018

    Good and easy.

• Carrot kraut [Sally Fallon]

  • Ganga108 on May 28, 2026

    In her newsletter, Shockey ferments carrot kraut, carrot salad and carrot sticks, and talks about the difference in tastes even tho the ingredients are the same. I always wanted to do this so I've made them today. Her newsletter says to ferment them for 4-5 days, contrasted to the 7-14 days here. Just ferment them until you like the flavour. I tend to like krauts "young" compared to longer ferments.

• Fermented carrot sticks

  • Ganga108 on May 28, 2026

    This is the third of the carrot trio that Shockey likes us to try, as the three different ferments (carrot kraut, salad and sticks) have different flavours even tho they used the same ingredients. In her newsletter she says to ferment them for 4-5 days, contrasted to the 7-14 days here. I say, just ferment them until you like the flavour.

• Garlic Pickle slices

  • Acarroll on December 18, 2022

    Good pickles, will repeat.

• Pickled shiitake

  • Ganga108 on February 19, 2025

    Now that the book is indexed, I can add my comments to the recipes. (From Feb 8th) I have high hopes of these being very very good. The 10'ish day fermentation is underway. UPDATE: OH the shiitake! I stopped the fermentation early as it had been quite hot here and it tasted super good. They are soft with a funky mushroom taste that is perfect. I can't wait to have some with rice or noodles or dumplings..... I think some people might like to ferment the shiitake for longer, but this is perfect for me. FURTHER UPDATE: They are SO good. UPDATE: Over time the mushrooms softened to a point when I no longer enjoyed them. I pureed them, dehydrated the puree and ground it to a powder. It is an excellent mushroom umami bomb addition to dishes.

• Simple onion relish

  • Ganga108 on June 22, 2025

    I have sliced these just a little thicker and added some brine, as I don't always have good luck with the salt-only pastes and relishes (ie liquid comes from the veg being fermented). I still have high hopes for this being excellent. There is some confusion in the onion recipes on this page and the next, some of them mentioning kraut brine in this relish recipe, although it doesn't include it. I suspect some editing oversights in this version of the 10th anniversary edition of the book when it was updated from the previous edition.

• Fermented rhubarb infused with ginger and cardamom

  • Ganga108 on February 19, 2025

    I am making this variation that has fresh ginger and cardamom, also slightly. less salt. Fingers crossed for a good result. UPDATE: EXCELLENT! Tangy, slightly sweet. Addictive - I couldn't stop giving it taste tests. One of my favourites so far with this book. (Made in January.)

• Fermented shiso leaves

  • Ganga108 on March 03, 2026

    This morning I heard Kirsten Shockey talking about her 16-year-old shiso ferment, and how amazing its taste is. So I took a leisurely drive to the Asian grocery that I knew stocked them, and now I have a shiso ferment happening.

• Lemon spinach

  • Ganga108 on January 14, 2026

    I used this as inspiration for fermenting beetroot leaves. The chopped leaves and stems are massaged with the salt. I added from my garden some purslane, mallow leaves, flat leaf chives, heads of fennel flowers and ones of unripe fennel and ripe parsley seeds. Also some chilli, and left out the oregano.

• Tomatillo salsa

  • eliza on November 05, 2016

    This ferment takes a while to get going so I left it for just over 2 weeks. It takes quite a while to chop all the ingredients, as with most ferments, but then it's no work at all until it's ready to be refrigerated. Not a lot of brine from this one. Tastes pretty good.

• Squash chutney

  • dinnermints on March 19, 2017

    This was just okay. I can't remember the name of the squash I used, but it was an heirloom variety that didn't have as much moisture in it as, say, a butternut squash. I made up a cup of brine to pour over it, since after a week, there still was hardly any brine.

• Zucchini peach relish

  • Ganga108 on March 02, 2025

    I've made the variation on the same page with the Indian spice mix instead of the peach powder.

• Baba ganoush

  • Ganga108 on February 05, 2026

    This is *very* delicious. I found this recipe after fermenting eggplant but not the way she describes on P223. Still, the babaganoush turned out incredible. Added some preserved lemon and a splash of brine and another of fresh lemon ju. Beautiful tahini from the Afghani shop. Topped with pomegranate kernels for a wonderful contrast with the eggplant.

• Almonnaise

  • Ganga108 on January 18, 2026

    I found it lacked flavour, and didn't thicken as much as I expected.

• Polish pickle soup

  • Ganga108 on January 09, 2026

    Shockey has included a variation on this soup in her 30-Day Fermentation Challenge. I am making my own version using ferments other than the dill pickles and some rich vegetarian stock I have in the freezer. Healthy and delicious.

• Basic steps for making kimchi

  • Ganga108 on July 27, 2025

    I am making fennel kimchi today. This method uses the brining method rather than salting, but I sometimes use the salting method. Fennel kimchi is delicious.

• Pickling spice

  • Ganga108 on March 10, 2026

    A nice spice mix for a number of fermented veggies.

• Beet-celery fermented salad

  • Ganga108 on March 19, 2026

    Shockey also has this recipe in one of her newsletters. It has taken me a while to have everything in the house at the same time, but now I have a large jar of beautifully coloured ferment on the bench. It is an extremely vigorous ferment for days 2-3 in our Summer temps. UPDATE: This is an excellent ferment - I have left it for 5 days and it is soooo good #ChefsKiss

• Fermented carrot salad

  • Ganga108 on May 28, 2026

    I've made these today as part of Shockey's trio of carrot ferments that she encourages us to try together to experience the taste differences (in her newsletter). Her newsletter says to ferment them for 4-5 days, contrasted to the 7-14 days here. Just ferment them until you like the flavour.

• Fermented ginger pickle

  • Ganga108 on February 19, 2025

    Hot and ginger spicy. The same recipe is in Shockey's Fiery Ferments.

• Vietnamese pickled mustard greens (Dua cai chua)

  • Ganga108 on July 28, 2025

    I have made these today with some beautifully fresh mustard greens I found at the Indian grocery. They will ferment for a week or so - Shockey says they become more interesting as they ferment. I've added some garlic and chilli. UPDATE: It has been 13 days, and I decided to refrigerate them and have some as a side for dinner. They taste good! I was surprised how good they taste. Still very crunchy, nicely briney, rather different to their original flavours. The crunchy texture is really nice. ?

• Making seasonings, powders and pastes from old or not-your-favourite ferments

  • Ganga108 on February 19, 2025

    This is a recipe for dehydrating ferments to make powders, pastes and salts - using end bits of ferments or ferments where the texture didn't turn out so well. I've dehydrated the end bits of the Mixed Herbs from Sando Katz's book, and the Layered basil leaf ferment from this book, and the taste is astounding - herbaceous, salty, "fermenty", briny. Excellent.

• Spiced zucchini relish

  • Ganga108 on March 05, 2025

    I made this but it wasn't successful. I suspect the zucchini needs to be cut smaller for a relish (imo), but also that perhaps the zukes were dehydrated too long. They still need to exude enough moister for the brine to cover the pickle. Will try again.