I fell down a youtube rabbit hole of people making homemade kimchi, but I was surprised to find none of the ingredients or techniques I associate with fermented foods / fermentation in general. At first I thought it was the salt added to the cabbage that made a brine, but I realized it was to reduce the water content of the cabbage, with the salt washed away thoroughly. Then I assumed it was fermented like sauerkraut, until I found out those are two different species of cabbage. I also noticed there wasn’t any added microbes or enzymes like when making wine or cheese, so what causes the reaction?
In: Biology
due to bacteria on the veggies. salt helps by killing bad microbes, letting good bacteria grow. these bacteria produce acid, which makes kimchi tangy and preserves it.
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