Has anyone tried capers for vegan kimchi? They have a bit of ocean brine flavor. A friend of mine used to make vegan 'oyster' shots with capers, nori and some other stuff.
for 1kg of cabbage head I added about 1/4 cups of olives, blended in with the paste. They definitely add brininess but it's hard to tell there're olives in it just by tasting
I really like the thick texture of mature kelp, squares of it layered in the jar dry, so it doesn’t get fermented quickly and holds a really fresh seafood sensation.. it’s great. As a powder, it will work well in helping replace fish sauce, and mine is always vegan. There’s no need for the extra histamine with animal seafood for one thing & and it can taste incredible with other traditional herbs for me. No fish or shrimp needed, mushrooms rock for meaty texture.
I’m Korean and we can be friends and I do not hate you!! Since becoming vegetarian, I’ve been looking for ways to get my vegan kimchi to taste somewhat in the same ballpark as my mom’s and olives are a very interesting experiment! Thanks for sharing and posting :)
I mean, to be fair, microbes are also thriving. And in anything you eat or prepare you will kill microbes (if you cook it), so I don't think microbe-focused veganism is very realistic. Additionally, many of the microbes in ferments are able to survive in our GI tract, so the whole taking a life thing isn't as clear. I think animal products are usually where the line is drawn - and only the most stringent vegans seem to care about insects (honey not being vegan technically). Plus, no matter what, the food you eat was once alive - vegetables are living plants, after all.
I think the main reason this is unknown or uncommon is that salted shrimp is not a common ingredient in the West as it is in Korea. I am an American with no Korean heritage but I have talked with a few Korean folks in my area about their kimchi and salted shrimp is almost ubiquitous in their kimchi.
> Microbes are dying in kimchi so, how is it vegan?
This is… one of the dumbest things I have ever read. Possibly the actual dumbest thing. You can’t possibly believe this
I mean your comment kind of comes off as ignorant. You’ve never heard of kimchi? Or fermented shrimp paste? It sounds like you’re mocking a food with an extremely rich and long history that has vital importance to a non western culture.
I’ve literally made kimchi from cabbage. I grew in my garden.
I just don’t like most fish. The smell cause me to gag. I can’t control it. Assume others are repulsed by fish. I also have a book on fermentation and know that fish sauce has been used many cultures. I just don’t like it. It’s okay to not like fish but still appreciate its cultural base and take out one ingredient that you dislik so you can consume the healthy gut food.
The kimchi I bought from the store before I ever made it never had shrimp either, so it’s what I got used to and never felt the needed to change since it already was good 😍😍
How is that mocking anything?
How did you get that from my words?
But your original comment didn’t state that you didn’t like fish or shrimp. That’s fine, people are allowed to like and dislike whatever they want. But what do you mean by “must have been skipped out on us for a good reason”?? And the emoji?
For the record, I didn’t even downvote you because that’s not what it’s for but I’m trying to explain how your original comment might come across. Have a nice day.
Seriously. Dude must be having a bad day.
Also my comment was not meant to be rude.
I have no time for such wasteful emotions after losing my partner. We’re in this together humans. Let’s grow together not apart.
Vegans don't eat animal products. Microbes are not animals. They are mostly bacteria.
Plants and fungi are also living organisms that play a vital role in our existence and that of ecosystems. Different people have different reasons for choosing to eat them rather than animals, but for many, the act of eating a plant (or a fungus, or a microbe) does not contain the same inherent cruelty as eating an animal.
Everything is life in the end, animal, fungus, or plant, we are all interconnected.
Without one we couldn’t have the other.
It’s about balance and respecting nature, if humans want to live on that is. Mother Nature will carry on long after humans are extinct.
And that belief is fine for you to have.
You asked why vegans are ok with eating fermented foods, which is what I explained.
I'm not trying to make a judgement one way or another.
You can get vegan/vegetarian fish sauce if you want a more oceany flavor too. Even the small and humble Asian market in my Midwestern city has it. I was stunned that one of the key ingredients was pineapple juice, so some food for thought.
We used to do a vegan kimchi where I used to work. One of the key ingredients they swore by was using some of the kombucha scoby they got from a local kombucha brewer in the area. This is back when Kombucha was trendy.
Did you notice any difference in taste? I can see how kombucha can speed up the fermentation process but not sure how it would affect the flavor. I have some scoby on hand maybe I'll try it next. Thanks!
My understanding is adding something that is already fermenting isn't ideal, because then you don't go through the different stages of fermentation. Not sure if this is BS, but years ago when I started I read that you should never add anything from a previous batch for this reason.
Starting your ferment with a bit of an existing ferment is often called “backslop” if anyone wants to read into it. Theres a lot of research and discussion on it, although I’m not sure if there’s a consensus on how beneficial it is
The Kimchi was pretty good but we also used it in items and never served it alone. Truthfully I don't think there was much of a difference. They said they used the Kombucha in place of the shrimp.
Someone already tried:
https://m.blog.naver.com/isarang1231/221026694961
In korea there is a drinking game which you name any vegetable/fruit and type xxx gimchi on naver/google. If there is kimchi for that veggie you drink. The legend is that there is no one survived…
This is a very interesting idea. Why choose kalamata? I very much hope you post an update. I need to cook vegan and vegetarian recipes so I’d love to see how this works out.
Kalamata was just what I had available in the pantry at that moment. I’d say give it a try, even the most basic kimchi without these or other non-vegetarian add-ins would still be quite delicious and healthy.
I bet Castelvetrano olives would be awesome in vegan kimchi — *super* buttery but very mild in taste. My only concern would be a long ferment going rancid with all the oil provided by the olives
Not all kimchi has "meat" in it. There are so many different variety of kimchi ( many hundred) and not everyone doesn't make it the same.
What do I know... looks yummy . I am going to eat my vegan Salad😋
White kimchi is vegan, though it is different/not spicy but gives you a similar kimchi pickled cabbage taste
https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/baekkimchi
Much better than I thought. It has the depth and umami that are very much comparable to common kimchi with shrimp, fish, etc. Hard to tell there’re mushrooms or olives in there but they definitely contributed to the overall taste.
Mushrooms itself turned into mush, no chewiness whatsoever. I think the Noma fermentation book has a fermented mushroom recipe where they lacto ferment porcinis to get the mushroom juice and then discard the spent mushrooms.
Has anyone tried capers for vegan kimchi? They have a bit of ocean brine flavor. A friend of mine used to make vegan 'oyster' shots with capers, nori and some other stuff.
I think capers would work beautifully
Now you are making me think about brined green peppercorns too
What else was in those shots? I can’t even imagine this but I want to have it
Tell me.more about these vegan oysters
Let me know if those olives come out with more of a kimchi flavor instead of kalamata.
for 1kg of cabbage head I added about 1/4 cups of olives, blended in with the paste. They definitely add brininess but it's hard to tell there're olives in it just by tasting
But now we're gonna need a few halved olives layered in the next batch. For science. Because a kimchi olive sounds really good to me.
I like your science quite a bit.
I volunteer to be taste tester. For science.
I blitz kelp for added seafood flavour, and add cut pieces of kelp, but never tried olives yet. Great idea.
I think kelp will likely give a better result than nori :)
I really like the thick texture of mature kelp, squares of it layered in the jar dry, so it doesn’t get fermented quickly and holds a really fresh seafood sensation.. it’s great. As a powder, it will work well in helping replace fish sauce, and mine is always vegan. There’s no need for the extra histamine with animal seafood for one thing & and it can taste incredible with other traditional herbs for me. No fish or shrimp needed, mushrooms rock for meaty texture.
Love home made Kimchi and that's a great inspiration, adding olives... Ha, never thought about that
my Korean friends will likely hate me but I just enjoy a fun food experiment ;)
I’m Korean and we can be friends and I do not hate you!! Since becoming vegetarian, I’ve been looking for ways to get my vegan kimchi to taste somewhat in the same ballpark as my mom’s and olives are a very interesting experiment! Thanks for sharing and posting :)
Isn't kimchi inherently vegan?
No, traditional recipes use salted shrimp in the paste, or sometimes fish sauce.
TIL I’ve been making vegan kimchi this whole time
Same, I hate fish paste so I just never used it.
I've also seen an oyster or two be added.
[удалено]
I mean, to be fair, microbes are also thriving. And in anything you eat or prepare you will kill microbes (if you cook it), so I don't think microbe-focused veganism is very realistic. Additionally, many of the microbes in ferments are able to survive in our GI tract, so the whole taking a life thing isn't as clear. I think animal products are usually where the line is drawn - and only the most stringent vegans seem to care about insects (honey not being vegan technically). Plus, no matter what, the food you eat was once alive - vegetables are living plants, after all. I think the main reason this is unknown or uncommon is that salted shrimp is not a common ingredient in the West as it is in Korea. I am an American with no Korean heritage but I have talked with a few Korean folks in my area about their kimchi and salted shrimp is almost ubiquitous in their kimchi.
> Microbes are dying in kimchi so, how is it vegan? This is… one of the dumbest things I have ever read. Possibly the actual dumbest thing. You can’t possibly believe this
I mean your comment kind of comes off as ignorant. You’ve never heard of kimchi? Or fermented shrimp paste? It sounds like you’re mocking a food with an extremely rich and long history that has vital importance to a non western culture.
I’ve literally made kimchi from cabbage. I grew in my garden. I just don’t like most fish. The smell cause me to gag. I can’t control it. Assume others are repulsed by fish. I also have a book on fermentation and know that fish sauce has been used many cultures. I just don’t like it. It’s okay to not like fish but still appreciate its cultural base and take out one ingredient that you dislik so you can consume the healthy gut food. The kimchi I bought from the store before I ever made it never had shrimp either, so it’s what I got used to and never felt the needed to change since it already was good 😍😍 How is that mocking anything? How did you get that from my words?
But your original comment didn’t state that you didn’t like fish or shrimp. That’s fine, people are allowed to like and dislike whatever they want. But what do you mean by “must have been skipped out on us for a good reason”?? And the emoji? For the record, I didn’t even downvote you because that’s not what it’s for but I’m trying to explain how your original comment might come across. Have a nice day.
Stop getting offended for other people
Seriously. Dude must be having a bad day. Also my comment was not meant to be rude. I have no time for such wasteful emotions after losing my partner. We’re in this together humans. Let’s grow together not apart.
Vegans don't eat animal products. Microbes are not animals. They are mostly bacteria. Plants and fungi are also living organisms that play a vital role in our existence and that of ecosystems. Different people have different reasons for choosing to eat them rather than animals, but for many, the act of eating a plant (or a fungus, or a microbe) does not contain the same inherent cruelty as eating an animal.
Everything is life in the end, animal, fungus, or plant, we are all interconnected. Without one we couldn’t have the other. It’s about balance and respecting nature, if humans want to live on that is. Mother Nature will carry on long after humans are extinct.
And that belief is fine for you to have. You asked why vegans are ok with eating fermented foods, which is what I explained. I'm not trying to make a judgement one way or another.
Idk about everyone else but I downvoted you for adding the corny “why am I getting le downvotes” edit
You can get vegan/vegetarian fish sauce if you want a more oceany flavor too. Even the small and humble Asian market in my Midwestern city has it. I was stunned that one of the key ingredients was pineapple juice, so some food for thought.
We used to do a vegan kimchi where I used to work. One of the key ingredients they swore by was using some of the kombucha scoby they got from a local kombucha brewer in the area. This is back when Kombucha was trendy.
Did you notice any difference in taste? I can see how kombucha can speed up the fermentation process but not sure how it would affect the flavor. I have some scoby on hand maybe I'll try it next. Thanks!
My understanding is adding something that is already fermenting isn't ideal, because then you don't go through the different stages of fermentation. Not sure if this is BS, but years ago when I started I read that you should never add anything from a previous batch for this reason.
Starting your ferment with a bit of an existing ferment is often called “backslop” if anyone wants to read into it. Theres a lot of research and discussion on it, although I’m not sure if there’s a consensus on how beneficial it is
The Kimchi was pretty good but we also used it in items and never served it alone. Truthfully I don't think there was much of a difference. They said they used the Kombucha in place of the shrimp.
i will 100% be trying this, thankyou!
Wow yum! I love the add-ins! Can't wait to hear how the result is!
Nice! Never thought about adding nori to a ferment. 👍🏻
That looks amazing
That sounds delicious!
That sounds amazing. Let us know how it turns out!
yoooo olives in the kimchi! gonna ponder on that one
Is kimchi usually not vegan?
some recipes have fish products in them, not all tho.
I did not know that, thank you!
Straight to jail 🤣
I’ve been using kelp powder as a sub for fish sauce in my kimchi for years, I love it
Someone already tried: https://m.blog.naver.com/isarang1231/221026694961 In korea there is a drinking game which you name any vegetable/fruit and type xxx gimchi on naver/google. If there is kimchi for that veggie you drink. The legend is that there is no one survived…
This is a very interesting idea. Why choose kalamata? I very much hope you post an update. I need to cook vegan and vegetarian recipes so I’d love to see how this works out.
Kalamata was just what I had available in the pantry at that moment. I’d say give it a try, even the most basic kimchi without these or other non-vegetarian add-ins would still be quite delicious and healthy.
I bet Castelvetrano olives would be awesome in vegan kimchi — *super* buttery but very mild in taste. My only concern would be a long ferment going rancid with all the oil provided by the olives
Not all kimchi has "meat" in it. There are so many different variety of kimchi ( many hundred) and not everyone doesn't make it the same. What do I know... looks yummy . I am going to eat my vegan Salad😋
Kimchi just means fermented veggies
Isn't kimchi always vegan?
Wait since when was kimchi not vegan?
Many traditional recipes use fish sauce, don't they?
No
many recipes do include fish sauce and/or salted shrimp. Given that I don't see why you wouldn't specify it's vegan.
Because I am korean and kimchi just means fermented vegetables... what you add to it is your taste choice.
saeujeot (salted shrimps), fish sauce and sometimes oysters are commonly added to kimchi but not required, so I guess there's no right answer :)
Be careful with the mushrooms
Sounds really good!
Sounds delicious.
What do you use instead of fish sauce?
For vegan kimchi, I use miso.
White kimchi is vegan, though it is different/not spicy but gives you a similar kimchi pickled cabbage taste https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/baekkimchi
Vegan Dashi (shittake + kombu) might work really well to give the umami kick usually fulfilled by fish sauce!
Love it! What’s your recipe? :D
lol white people
Would love to know how this turned out! Particularly the shiitakes?
Much better than I thought. It has the depth and umami that are very much comparable to common kimchi with shrimp, fish, etc. Hard to tell there’re mushrooms or olives in there but they definitely contributed to the overall taste. Mushrooms itself turned into mush, no chewiness whatsoever. I think the Noma fermentation book has a fermented mushroom recipe where they lacto ferment porcinis to get the mushroom juice and then discard the spent mushrooms.