Fruit Kimchi

timeframe: 2 days or longerAn unbelievable combination of sweet and spicy makes fruit kimchi a hit for any occasion. In Wild Fermentation, Sandor Katz describes how the sweet fruit melds with the sharp kimchi flavors, making for a surprising and memorable taste. We recommend using his recipe as a guideline and modifying ingredients based on seasonal availability of local fruit.

Ingredients

• ¼ pineapple
• 2 plums pitted
• 2 pears cored
• 1 apple cored
• 1 small bunch grapes stemmed
• ½ cup cashews or other nuts
• 2 tsp sea salt
• 1 lemon just the juice
• 1 small bunch cilantro chopped
• 1-2 jalepeno peppers finely chopped
• 1-2 hot red chilies or any hot red pepper, fresh or dried
• 1 leek or onion, finely chopped
• 3-4 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 3 tbsp ginger grated

Supplies

• large mixing bowl
• mason jars
• canning funnel (optional)

Method

1. Chop fruit into bite-sized pieces. Peel if you wish. Leave grapes whole.
2. Add in any other fruit you want to try. Add nuts. Mix fruit and nuts together in a bowl.
3. Add salt, lemon juice, and spices, and mix well.
4. Stuff kimchi mixture into a clean, quart-size jar. Pack tightly into jar till brine rises above fruit. If necessary, add a little water to keep fruit submerged.
5. Taste after a couple days to see whether it's fermented to your liking. As it ferments longer, it becomes increasingly alcoholic due to the high sugar content of the fruit.

Safety

Keep your ferments submerged. A white bloom on the surface is safe — scrape it off and eat kimchi below. If the kimchi turns any other color, oxygen has stopped fermentation and enabled unknown microorganisms to colonize. Compost the entire batch.