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My Fermented Food Projects

My Fermented Food Projects

I have been intrigued with fermented food ever since I came across it on my quest to cure 宝贝’s eczema. I have even brought love for fermented food further by founding Craft & Culture with Winnie, so that we can reach out to more people out there who loves it but have no time or passion to make them.

Here are some of the books that got me started on fermentation.

Wild Fermentation – the Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods by Sandor Ellix Katz

Sandor Katz is the Father of Fermentation. His books details the science behind fermentation and various kinds of fermented food. It’s not a pretty book though because it is wordy and doesn’t have many pictures to follow. But it is very detailed and is a wealth of information.

The Art of Fermentation : An In-Depth Exploration of Essential Concepts and Processes from around the World

This is his 2nd book.

Fermented Vegetables by Kirsten K. Shockey & Christopher Shockey

I use this book extensively for fermentation of vegetables. It is very detailed with step by step information and beautiful pictures.

My Fermentations

Milk Kefir

Kombucha

Sauerkraut

Gluten Free Sourdough

Miso

Honey Garlic Ferment

Honey Cranberry Ferment

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Milk Kefir Popsicle

Milk Kefir Popsicle

The children have been clamouring for home made ice cream. I haven’t had time to make some for them. I need to make more desserts for bargaining chips!! ?

I had watermelon and milk kefir in my refrigerator and a set of brand new popsicle mould which I bought from Daiso (for only $2!! I love Daiso!!). My first popsicles in the making! ??????

I blended the watermelon and mixed in the milk kefir. Voila! Watermelon smoothie! Poured the mixture into the popsicle moulds and popped them into the freezer.

The mixture eventually separated into 2 layers. ? BUT my easy-going children loved them! Why? They are cold and they had 2 colours. ??? Anything cold goes with them.

I need to come up with more kefir popsicle recipes that don’t separate into layers though. Keep your eyes on my posts! ?

Ingredients :

Watermelon

Milk kefir

 

More kefir recipes

Little Miss Muffet's Curds and Whey

Little Miss Muffet's Curds and Whey

Little Miss Muffet

Sat on a tuffet,

Eating her curds and whey;

Along came a spider

Who sat down beside her

And frightened Miss Muffet away.

One of the nursery rhymes I learnt during my childhood days.  I have always wondered, what were “curds and whey”.  Now I know! Hey! I make that everyday from my milk kefir! They separate in curds and whey after fermentation and both are extremely nutritious. So Little Miss Muffet is a healthy little girl! Wahahaha!

In my last milk kefir post, I posted that my kefir grains were starved to death… Sigh… As I had no grains, what I did, was to “recycle” the curds. After fermentation, I would take a big scoop, put the curds into my glass container, feed it with milk, then ferment them again.  With the curds, I was able to continue making more kefir.

Why?

Well, that’s because there is still live culture present in the curds. The live culture continues to stay alive and cultivate the milk.  Theoretically speaking, this can go on and on and on.  However, as they are microscopic and can’t be seen by the naked eye, the only way to test the amount of culture in the curds is by lab testing. If the bacteria die off, it will stop cultivating. The safer way is to still obtain the kefir grains for cultivating the bacteria.

So, I used curds to culture my kefir for quite a while, til Marcelly came to my rescue! By giving me more grains!! Thanks babe!!

It’s just a useful tip for you. If you are able to get live cultured curds, you can technically make curds for quite a while, even without grains.

Therefore, if you are unable to find grains, you can buy the original milk kefir from Craft & Culture and then use it to make more kefir.

Happy fermenting!

Milk Kefir Food

Milk Kefir Food

Ever since I started milk kefir making, I have incorporated it into our diet.  In order for the diet to work, it has to be worked into our lifestyle permanently. Milk kefir has over 40 strains of culture. Just google milk kefir and you will find that it’s a wealth of goodness! Anyway, it’s a lot cheaper and more natural to eat this, than to buy the multi-strain probiotics capsules. Besides, it is helping my 宝贝’s eczema tremendously.  I will do anything for her!

So now, the whole family has been “gently persuaded” to have kefir for breakfast EVERY DAY! Yes! Every single day! Now, it’s just part of our diet. I will add on to the list… If you have any new ideas, please feel free to let me know!

Banana Raisins Kefir

Watermelon Kefir Popsicle

Healthy Living – Milk Kefir

Healthy Living – Milk Kefir

How I got started on Milk Kefir!

Wow! I’ve taken such a long break from blogging. My phone is bogged down with so many photos which I’ve stored for my blog articles which I’ve no time to write. I’m blaming it all on my holiday and procrastination.

Anyway, here’s something on what I’ve been up to lately.

Milk Kefir! In a nutshell, the good bacteria in Yakult and Vitagen? That’s it! Minus the high sugar concentration in these 2 drinks.

It all started when I was lamenting about the expensive probiotics that 宝贝 was taking to keep her eczema from flaring up. And hopefully, to introduce enough good bacteria into her system that she outgrows her food allergies.

“Why don’t you try making your own?” Celly said. “Very easy wan!!”

I looked at her doubtfully… “Sure or not?!”

Her mom managed to get some kefir grains from her friends and has been making kefir for them. Her son’s eczema condition has improved tremendously after eating it. I have read about people cultivating their own kefir but I never thought it could be done in hot, humid Singapore!

So she kindly gave me some starter kefir grains, with very clear and explicit instructions on how to do it. She even lent me her plastic sieve as I only had metal ones at home. I bought the equipment from Daiso a few days later. So I’ve done a few rounds of it and glad to say, my kefir grains are still surviving!!! ✌️Thanks Celly!!!

It simply tastes like original yoghurt. Sour loh. Only 小小宝贝 eats it in its original condition. Don’t ask me how he does it! He simply loves it!! The rest of us eat it mixed with fruits or cereal!

So how to go about doing it??

milk kefir grains.JPG

This is what the kefir grains look like. The bunch of spongy curd in the container.

Pour milk over the kefir. 100ml of milk for every 10g of kefir.

Milk in milk kefir.JPG

It’s so easy that 宝贝 can do it too!! Cover the container and leave a little gap so that the gas produced during the fermentation can escape. Or else you will be faced with a minor explosion of fermented milk in your cupboard… Something that I don’t look forward to. Leave it in a dark and cool place. I leave it in my cupboard that’s not frequently used so that it’s not disturbed. If you want it to be more liquid (smoothie kind), take it out after 2 days. I prefer it to be more solidified so I “harvest” it after 3 days.

stirring milk kefir.JPG

This is what it looks like after 3 days.

sieving milk kefir.JPG

Filter it with a plastic sieve. The filtered part is what I add into fruits.

filtered kefir grains.JPG

I’m left with the kefir grains after the filtering. Here we go again!

When my kefir grains propagate, I can give some away so that everyone can benefit from it. Hope they grow up soon!!!

1 Dec 2014

Thanks for all the comments and feedback left by my readers! Check out this link for more information on how to cultivate kefir and even recipes with it.

2 Dec 2014

This gets more interesting every day. After I started talking to people about kefir, I found out that kefir grains are being sold at Tekka market! So if you are in Singapore, head there!!

9 Oct 2015

A lot of things have happened since the last update.  First of all, I have changed the sieve.  I no longer use the one in the picture, because the holes were too big and my kefir grains kept slipping through them.  So they were not multiplying at all, as I kept losing them.  On the bright side, they ended up in my stomach, so it’s not too raw a deal. :p

I have since, changed to this plastic sieve and I stopped losing every single precious grain.

sieve for milk kefir I have also changed my fermentation time to half a day.  This is also dependent on the weather and location. As Singapore is a warm country, the fermentation time tends to be shorter than in temperate countries.  If you like a more sourish taste, then you can leave it out for 1 full day.  I have taken it out of the dark cupboard and left it on my kitchen tabletop so that it’s more convenient.  Therefore, the fermentation temperature is higher than the dark cupboard as well.  These are some contributing factors.

I have also switched to glass containers to house the kefir.  Plastics are generally pretty stable and shouldn’t react with the kefir, but since I have glass containers at home, I use them instead.

New Instructions :

  1. Put the kefir grains in a glass container with a wide opening.  I’m using a pyrex glass container. For every 10g of kefir grains, pour 100ml of milk over them.
  2. Leave them to ferment in a cool place, away from the sun.  Fermentation time depends on temperature. Optimal temperature is around 22-25 degrees C. For Singapore weather, fermentation time is around half a day.  If you like it to be more sourish, then ferment them for 1 full day.
  3. Sieve the grains using a plastic sieve with fine holes. Kefir is ready to be eaten.  Store them in the refrigerator.
  4. Put the kefir grains in a glass container and repeat step 1.

 

25 Dec 2015

Please check out my website Craft & Culture!  There’s a wealth of information on cultured food on it and its facebook page.

26 Dec 2015

The things I do with Milk Kefir! Yums!

27 Dec 2015

Don’t make the same mistake as I have done. My poor kefir starved to death….

30 Jan 2016

Temporary stopgap measure to continue with milk kefir cultivation while waiting for my new kefir grains. Yep! I continued cultivating milk kefir without the grains.