Kenji Morimoto

CHILLI, ORANGE & CORIANDER SAUERKRAUT
As someone who makes a lot of sauerkraut, this is one variety that I return to quite often. It’s really bright – not just in colour from the ruby-red cabbage, but also in flavour from the orange playing off the citrus notes of coriander. It really shines on a pickle platter and, with its fairly universal flavours, can be eaten alongside most cuisines. It’s also particularly beautiful when baked into my Sauercaccia (see ).

PREP TIME: 15 MINUTES | FERMENTATION TIME: 2–5 WEEKS

Makes a 1-litre jar

1kg red cabbage

1 orange (peel included), thinly sliced

2 mild chillies, thinly sliced (deseeded if you want to reduce the heat level)

measured salt: 2% of the total weight of above ingredients

1 tbsp coriander seeds

Halve the cabbage. Shred it finely using a sharp knife or a mandoline – I like to use as much of the cabbage as possible. Place the shredded cabbage in a bowl with the orange and chillies and calculate 2% of that total weight. This is the amount of salt you will need.

Remove the orange slices and set aside. Add the salt to the sliced cabbage and chillies and massage for 5–10 minutes, using a fair amount of pressure to optimize the creation of brine. If you do not see much brine, continue massaging the cabbage and a pool of brine should appear. Add the sliced orange and coriander seeds and mix it all together.

Decant into your jar and pack it down to ensure there are no air pockets in your sauerkraut, allowing the brine to gather on top of the mixture. Use a food-safe fermentation weight to ensure everything is below the brine.

Cover the jar and leave it at room temperature to ferment for 2–5 weeks. After 2 weeks, start tasting the fermented cabbage. When you’re pleased with the flavour, move it to the fridge where it will keep indefinitely.

MORKOVCHA
Morkovcha is a version of kimchi found throughout post-Soviet countries in Eastern Europe, originated by displaced Korean populations known as the Koryo-saram. When you make this, you’ll find some similarities with kimchi, although it’s ultimately very different in both ingredients and process. I wanted to include this recipe as it reflects a time and place and how recipes can evolve due to displacement and accessibility – themes close to my own family history.

Chinese leaf cabbages weren’t readily available so carrots were swapped out for the key ingredient and even the name of this dish signals this confluence of cultures and traditions, morkovcha being a combination of the Russian word for carrot (morkov) and the Korean word for a salad-type dish (chae). As the name suggests, treat this more as a salad and each time you eat it – as a side dish or alongside other pickles – remember its origin and how access (or lack thereof) leads to innovation and creativity in food.

PREP TIME: 15 MINUTES | WAIT TIME: 5 HOURS

Makes a 500ml jar

500g carrots, peeled and julienned (or grated)

½ tsp ground coriander

½ tsp paprika

1 tsp coarse gochugaru

½ tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

2 tbsp vinegar (white wine, rice wine, or my favourite, apple cider vinegar)

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

3 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp white sesame seeds

handful of fresh coriander, finely chopped

Put the carrots in a large bowl and mix in all of the dried spices, sugar and vinegar. Put the garlic on top of the carrot mixture – do not mix this in.

Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat until smoking and pour over the garlic, thereby tempering it. Mix everything together and then add the sesame seeds and coriander. Enjoy this immediately (or after a few hours in the fridge). It is best consumed within a week.

CRUNCHY SOY SAUCE CUCUMBERS
This is one of my favourite everyday Japanese pickles, with a combination of soy sauce and vinegar as its mode of preservation. Variations on this pickle were a constant in my childhood: eaten alongside rice balls and fried chicken during family road trips and always making an appearance at temple potlucks. They’re the definition of moreish and all you really need to appreciate them is a blank canvas of rice.

One important note here is regarding the types of cucumbers to use. In the UK, I tend to go for baby cucumbers (about 6–10cm/2½–4in long) as these have less water content than the standard larger English variety. If you can get your hands on pickling cucumbers, those are ideal. Another non-negotiable here is using a Japanese soy sauce – other versions may have a different salt content and flavour. Like it spicy? Add more chilli. Also, the sugar content can be reduced if you want, but remember that the Japanese palate leans sweet. See photo .

PREP TIME: 20 MINUTES + minimum 2 hours salting

Makes a 1-litre jar

600g small cucumbers

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp soy sauce

3 tbsp mirin

3 tbsp sugar

3 tbsp apple cider vinegar or, more traditionally, rice vinegar

1 whole dried chilli, thinly sliced or cut with scissors

10g root ginger, peeled and julienned

Cut each cucumber into fifths, about 1cm (½in) in size. Put these into a large bowl, add the salt and mix thoroughly. Leave for a minimum of 2 hours or overnight. Try to stir regularly to ensure it’s salted uniformly. The salting process will draw out liquid and allow the flavoured brine to better infuse the vegetables.

After the salting period, discard the liquid from the cucumbers.

To make the brine, put all the remaining ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer until the sugar has dissolved. While the brine is still warm, pour it onto the cucumbers. Transfer them to a glass jar for fridge storage.

You can eat them immediately but they are best after a day or two in the brine. The cucumbers will continue to emit water, so aim to eat them within 2 weeks.

Kimchi Fried Rice Comté Arancini

Prepare the fruit and put it in your jar.

To make the brine, put the sugar, apple cider vinegar, 120ml water and salt into a small saucepan. Add the aromatics. Put the pan over a low heat until the liquid reaches a gentle simmer. Immediately remove from the heat and let the sugar dissolve and aromatics infuse the brine.

When the brine has cooled slightly (doesn’t need to be room temperature), pour it onto the fruit, ensuring that the brine completely covers the fruit.

If there’s any extra brine that doesn’t fit into your jar, keep it for a new pickle.

Keep the jar at room temperature for 24 hours and then transfer it to the fridge for long-term storage.

PICKLED PEARS WITH THYME, CHILLI & CORIANDER
1½ pears (about 250g), cored and cut into sixths

50g sugar

180ml apple cider vinegar

½ tbsp salt

2 sprigs of fresh thyme

1 mild chilli pepper, finely sliced, deseeded

½ tsp coriander seeds

Chickpea & Sauerkraut Salad
This weeknight salad is the definition of a kitchen pantry rustle up. Any flavour of sauerkraut will work here so if you’re like me and have a variety of spice combinations fermenting away in your kitchen, the possibilities are endless. Using sauerkraut as an ingredient offers not only a zing of flavour, but also adds texture (and is a great way to use up ferments to make way for more projects). Jarred chickpeas are what we normally have in our pantry, but feel free to use any of your favourite jarred or tinned beans, such as butter, black or kidney beans.

Taking this as your starting point, you can bulk it out with roasted vegetables, add Miso Parm Croutons (see ), Curried Crispy Butter Beans (see ) or, as I often do, serve it on a bed of rocket.

PREP TIME: 10 MINUTES

Serves 4

700g jar chickpeas, drained

200g sauerkraut, including residual brine

60g fresh leafy herbs, such as coriander, parsley, dill, chopped

zest and juice of 1 lemon

salt and pepper

100g feta, crumbled into bite-sized pieces

In your serving bowl, combine the chickpeas, sauerkraut and chopped herbs. Give this a good mix.

Dress with the lemon zest and juice and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Sprinkle the feta on top.

This salad keeps well in the fridge for up to 2 days.

Miso Praline Sesame Pecans
Which do you prefer: pumpkin pie or pecan pie? As an American, I’m often asked this question as Thanksgiving approaches. I’ve always jumped to pumpkin pie as it is usually less cloyingly sweet than the pecan pies that graced our Thanksgiving table. Admittedly my sweet tooth has developed as I’ve gotten older, but I naturally gravitate to desserts that aren’t too sweet. Many of my Asian readers may relate to this: the best compliment to many desserts from an elder is that it’s “not too sweet”. So here’s my “not too sweet” savoury miso and sesame praline pecans: an homage to my Japanese American Thanksgiving table and the perfect snacking treat.

This recipe is fairly adjustable: add a pinch of flaky sea salt to the mix if you like it more savoury or use a 50:50 blend of pecans and walnuts. This makes a really easy (and delicious) gift.

PREP TIME: 10 MINUTES | COOK TIME: 45–60 MINUTES

Makes 400g

1 egg white

1½ tbsp white miso

400g pecan halves

1 tbsp black sesame seeds

1 tbsp white sesame seeds

100g granulated sugar

100g light brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 140ºC (fan 120ºC/gas mark 1) and line a baking sheet with baking paper.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk the egg white until frothy and the colour has changed to white – you do not need soft peaks. In another small bowl, mix the miso with 1 tablespoon of water until you have a thin paste, then add the diluted miso to the egg white and fold until combined.

Add the pecans and sesame seeds and mix until they are coated with the mixture, then add both types of sugar and mix until combined.

Put the pecans in a single layer on the lined baking sheet and bake for 45–60 minutes, stirring every 15–20 minutes.

Leave to cool to room temperature before enjoying.

Keep in an airtight container for up to 1 month.

Kimchi Bloody Mary
As with all of the cocktails in this section, the complexity in flavours comes from the ferment in question. By first blitzing the ingredients (including the whole kimchi) and then straining the liquid, you get all of the flavour for this Bloody Mary. While this recipe uses both the brine and the kimchi, it doesn’t matter too much if you do not have a ton of kimchi brine on hand. I generally use a cabbage-based kimchi, but the rhubarb and cherry tomato versions are also bloody delicious!

PREP TIME: 10 MINUTES

Serves 1, in a highball glass

60ml vodka

100ml tomato juice

25g kimchi

20ml kimchi brine

15ml lemon juice

dash of Tabasco

dash of fish sauce

pinch of celery salt

ice

garnishes of choice (see method)

Special equipment: blender

Put all the ingredients (except the ice and garnishes) into a blender and blitz to extract all the flavour from the kimchi. Taste and adjust the seasonings.

Strain into an ice-filled highball glass and add your garnishes.

My suggested garnish is a skewer of one piece of kimchi, a slice of Sour Dill Pickle (see ), a slice of Quick Pickled Red Onions (see ), a fermented cherry tomato (see ) and a lemon wedge. Instead of the skewer you could go classic and add a celery stick.

GAZPACHO CHERRY TOMATOES
Lactofermented cherry tomatoes are some of the best (and easiest) ferments you can make. There’s something very special about biting into a fermented tomato: a burst of sweet and sour tang with a slight sparkly effervescence that just sings summer.

This ferment follows the wet brining process outlined . Here, I’ve leaned into the flavours of a gazpacho so have added complementary flavours in red pepper, red onion, chilli, black peppercorns and fresh dill. You can change up the ingredients or spices but remember to calculate the salt percentage based on the total weight of the ingredients and water.

These pickles and brine are the star of my Fermented Gazpacho (see ) and are particularly delicious in my Tomatini cocktail (see ). Keep any surplus brine for tomato sauces, a Bloody Mary or dressings for summer salads.

PREP TIME: 20 MINUTES | FERMENTATION TIME: 5–7 DAYS

Makes a 1.5 litre jar

450g cherry tomatoes, left whole

5 garlic cloves, peeled

1 red pepper (about 200g), deseeded and thinly sliced

1 small red onion (about 100g), peeled, cut in half and thinly sliced

1 mild chilli pepper (about 10g), deseeded and roughly chopped

2 tsp black peppercorns

3–4 sprigs of fresh dill

measured salt: 3.5% of the total weight of above ingredients and water

Find a jar that will hold all of the ingredients (apart from the salt). Put this onto your kitchen scales and zero it out. Fill the jar with the vegetables, spices, herbs and water and take a note of the total weight. (It is usually best to add a bit more water as this will help to keep what you’re fermenting below the brine.) Calculate 3.5% of the total weight of the vegetables and water. This is the amount of salt you will need. Add the salt to the jar, close the jar and shake to dissolve.

Use a food-safe fermentation weight to hold down any floating vegetable pieces. Remember that anything above the brine could attract unwanted yeast or mould.

Ferment at room temperature for 5–7 days. When you notice the signs of fermentation (see ), taste the tomatoes: they should be tangy and effervescent. Move them to the fridge for long-term storage – they should keep for several months as long as they stay below the brine. In my opinion, these are best eaten when they’re lightly fermented, both in terms of flavour and texture.

Fermented Gazpacho
Do you ever think about what would be on your dream dinner party menu? In many of my scribbled plans, I return to this dish. It’s familiar, bright and complex, and would be served as a canapé – in shot glasses – since all dream dinner parties start with canapés. This is such a summery dish and as it’s so fresh (despite the fermented elements), you definitely want to go for the best quality ingredients you can find – this is true for the tomatoes as well as the extra virgin olive oil.

And lastly, do yourself a favour and keep all of the leftover brine in a new (and smaller) jar. This brine could be used to kickstart a new ferment or as a strong essence of tomato for recipes: I’ve been using it in salad dressings and a martini is calling its name (see Tomatini, ).

PREP TIME: 15 MINUTES

Serves 2–3

1 recipe of Gazpacho Cherry Tomatoes (see )

1 cucumber, about 200g, peeled and cut into 5cm (2in) chunks

60ml extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

salt and pepper

To serve

fresh dill

diced cucumber

extra virgin olive oil

Special equipment: food processor or blender

Strain the vegetables from the fermented tomatoes, reserving the fermented brine. Put the strained vegetables and cucumber into a food processor or blender and blitz to your desired consistency. I prefer it slightly chunky.

Add the olive oil, white wine vinegar and 60–80ml of the reserved brine (the smaller quantity will make a thicker gazpacho), give it a good stir, adjust the seasoning (salt and pepper) if needed, and serve.

For a really cold gazpacho, transfer it to the fridge for an hour or add a few ice cubes to each bowl.

Garnish with fresh dill, diced cucumber and a healthy glug of extra virgin olive oil. This can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for 2–3 days.