Fermentation Handout

Practical handout from the Slow Food O‘ahu fermentation workshop led by Allison Hardin. Salt, bacteria, and patience turn produce into living food. Keep the magic going at home.

Read the full class story with photos.

ʻOno & Pono Barbie Kimchi

  • Chop veg. Weigh it. Salt = weight in grams × 0.025 (2.5%). Toss well, rest 30–60 min — the brine makes itself.
  • Paste: garlic, ginger, green onion, chili flake. Go light on chili — it sharpens as it ferments and there is no undo.
  • Gloves on, mix thoroughly. Pack into the jar hard, pressing until brine rises above the veg. Leave 2" headspace.
  • Counter, out of sun, 3–7 days. Set it on a plate — it will overflow. Burp daily.
  • Taste from day 3. Fridge it when you like it. Keeps for months and keeps changing.
  • Save the brine — soup, dressing, or to start your next batch.

Kombucha

  • Per gallon: 8–10 tea bags + 1 cup sugar. Steep 10–15 min in 1 qt hot water, pull bags, dissolve sugar, top up with cold water and ice.
  • COOL BELOW 85°F BEFORE THE SCOBY GOES IN. Hot tea kills it. No shortcuts, no hot car, no sunny lānai.
  • Add all the starter liquid (that’s the real culture), lay the SCOBY on top. Cover with cloth — first ferment needs air. Date it.
  • 1st ferment: 7–14 days. Start tasting at day 7.
  • 2nd ferment: bottle in flip-tops + 10–20% juice or 1 tsp sugar. 1–2" headspace, sealed, 2–4 days, then refrigerate.
  • No fizz? Tired gasket, no sugar left, or you poured off the cloudy yeast at the bottom.

Honey Fermented Garlic

  • Peeled cloves in a jar, raw honey poured over to cover. Lid on loosely. Keep every clove submerged.
  • Optional: a splash of apple cider vinegar drops the pH right away — good insurance, barely tastable.
  • BURP IT DAILY — twice a day the first week. Loosen, listen for the hiss, tip to re-coat, retighten.
  • Usable in a week, good at a month, excellent at three. Keeps indefinitely.
  • Blue or green garlic is a harmless chemistry reaction, not spoilage.
  • No honey for babies under 1 year.
  • Oxymel: equal parts raw honey + vinegar, plus herbs, garlic, or ginger. Infuse a few weeks. Sip it, or make it salad dressing.

Ginger Bug (bonus)

  • 1 Tbsp grated organic unpeeled ginger + 1 Tbsp sugar + 1 cup non-chlorinated water. Cover with cloth.
  • Feed 1 Tbsp ginger + 1 Tbsp sugar daily and stir. Ready in 3–7 days when it’s actively bubbling.
  • The wild yeast lives on the skin — peeling it throws away the culture.
  • To make soda: strain ½ cup into 1 qt sweetened juice or tea, bottle, 2–4 days, then chill.
  • Splash it into your kombucha 2nd ferment for reliably better fizz.