People's Republic of Fermentation // Episode 01: Mrs. Ding's Pickles

Learning how to ferment vegetables, the Chinese way (pao-cai), from Mrs. Ding in Chengdu.
We meet her in front of her apartment, when we stop to admire and photograph the sausages she has hanging there to cure, and she invites us in, sends us to the market with her husband, feeds us an elaborate feast, and then shows us some different ways she ferments vegetables.
// PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF FERMENTATION //
presented by: The Foundation For Fermentation Fervor
with: Sandor Katz
www.wildferment...
and Mara King
ozuke.com/
directed, filmed, edited by: Mattia Sacco Botto
mattiasaccobot...
additional editing: Fabrizio Grasso
fabriziograsso....
// EPISODE 01 RECIPES // by Mara King
- MR. DING'S TWICE-COOKED PORK (HUI GUO ROU)
2 lbs pork belly
1 tsp Sweet Jiang (or Hoisin sauce)
1 tsp Doubanjiang
1 tsp fermented chili paste (or hot sauce)
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp fresh ginger, minced
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp light soy sauce
2-3 oz green onions, chopped
Place pork belly in boiling water for 3-5 minutes (depending on the thickness of the pork). You want the inside of the meat to be pink and the outside firm. Drain and cool down. Then slice as thinly as you can.
Heat wok or pan, then add the pork. If the fat side is substantial, no need to add other fat for frying. Otherwise add a little oil so the meat doesn't stick to the pan.
Sprinkle with salt and sugar and move vigorously at high heat. Add sweet jiang, doubanjiang, chili paste, garlic and ginger. Stir vigorously until all ingredients are well coated over the pork. Finally drizzle soy sauce and stir in the green onions. Once incorporated and the onions begin to soften a little, the dish is ready - serve and enjoy!
- MRS. DING'S FERMENTED CHILI PASTE, LA JIAO JIANG
2 lbs fresh chilis (large chiles like Fresnos or ripened hatch chiles; avoid small super-hot chiles like Thai bird or Serranos)
1.5 tbs salt
1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns
2 bayleaves
2 pods black cardamom
1 piece San Nai (dried galangal, can sub fresh galangal or ginger)
3 pieces star anise
1 cup oil (Mrs Ding uses extra virgin rapeseed oil, can sub canola oil or extra virgin olive oil)
Remove stems, then chop the chilis very fine. You can leave the seeds in for more spice. Handle with care: use gloves, especially when working with hot chilis.
Toss chilis in salt and spread out in a large bowl (with round edges, so the chilis don't dry out) and put in a sunny spot for 24 hours.
Strain and squeeze out as much liquid as possible using a cheese cloth or strainer and wooden spoon.
Mix dried chilis with half the oil, then press into a wide mouth ball jar. Gently cover the chile mixture with the rest of the oil.
Cover with lid and put in a sunny spot for 4-5 days before transferring indoors to a cool dark spot. Ferment for at least 3 months.
- MRS. DING'S QUICK PICKLING BRINE
5 cups boiled water
2 tsp salt
2 tsp malt sugar (can use Maltose, readily available at Asian Food markets; can sub barley malt sugar, or rice syrup or regular cane sugar)
3 slices ginger
2 tsp Sichuan peppercorn
5 pc dried chilis
2 pc black cardamom
Veggies for pickling in brine, like - radish, daikon radish, cabbage, onion, carrot, cucumber.
Pour boiled water into 1/2 gallon ball jar. Add salt, sugar and spices whilst still warm. Once brine has cooled to the point that you can put your hand in it add vegetables for pickling.
The first batch of vegetables should take 1-2 weeks to ferment until sour.
Once the brine has been "primed" you can add new vegetables and take them out after a day or two, when they should be nice and crisp and sour. The more seasoned the brine, the faster the pickling time.
Keep hands clean when handling the pickling brine to avoid it going off. If it develops a yeast layer on top add a tablespoon of hard alcohol. Mrs. Ding uses Huang Jiu, China's ubiquitous sorghum spirit, but a splash of vodka or gin should do the trick too.
// GLOSSARY - NOTES //
Flower Peppercorn and Sichuan Peppercorn - two ways of saying the same thing.
Five Flower Belly / Five Flower Pork - reference to the kind of pork belly used by Mr. Ding that has a layer of skin, two thick layers of fat and two layers of lean meat.
Black Cardamom or Black Cardamon - Commonly used in Southeast Asian Cuisine. Has a very different flavor profile from more commonly seen Green Cardamon or Cardamom. It has a smoky, leathery aroma as apposed to the more floral green variety. Can be found at local Asian food stores.
Malt Sugar - the Ding Ding Tang depicted in the episode is basically the taffy version of Maltose or Malt Syrup.
San Nai - Chinese medicinal name for dried galangal, aka Kaempteria Rhizoma.
Rapeseed Oil - Commonly found in Southwest China. From the mustard green plant. It has a smoky, nutty and slightly spicy aroma and is lightly brown in color.
// 2017 - All Rights Reserved

[@meancuisine8]

HolySchnikies!!! This is in my top 5 greatest pieces of film on KZbin!!! The PEOPLE are FANTASTIC... my mouth is watering.... i van smell the complexities of the ferments!!! WoW!!!

[@raaron4315]

discovering Sandor doing a show on chinese fermentation made my week

[@WoRN808]

Marvelous!!!

[@fjellmamma]

This was great!

[@rickloginname]

What an excellent adventure.

[@RosembergSantos]

Hey, i'm from Brazil and just discover your book! Thanks for sharing your wisdom!

[@Soddingsociety]

Thank you so much for posting! You're a huge inspiration, Sandor. Stay awesome. Can't wait for more videos like this one!

[@realrasher]

Yes! Thank you Sandor!!

[@Vork81]

Amazing! I am so happy i found this. Gonna look for tickets to Chengdu now

[@berkshireferments7244]

This is so cool! Thanks for sharing!

[@carmeladalinger4301]

Amazing!

[@AnaPerez-th7gw]

BUEN DÍA SANDOR.TUS VIDEOS SON SUBTITULADOS EN ESPAÑOL ? RESIDO EN ARGENTINA Y NO SÉ INGLÉS.GRACIAS POR ESTE HERMOSO VIDEO EN TU VIAJE POR CHINA.ABRAZO DE LUZ.

[@hollyklump2459]

This is incredible and every way. Hospitality is alive and well in every way, even if the powers that be tell us that is false.

[@BetterDoneYourself]

Welcome Back, Sandor! I missed you. I hope this is all research for your next book. Please say yes!

[@Gioware]

Everything is beautiful in this video, except everything sounds disgusting.

[@paza65]

Brilliant! Thank you for this work. I'm soooo looking forward to more. (and the recipes are a huge plus!) I corresponded with Sandor a while ago when I was going through a rough, questioning time and read some history about him that made me feel more "connected". He was so wonderful to write me back and really help me settle my mind.

[@stevenbates7790]

YES!! Including the recipes is a HUGE plus, and encouragement to try the same!

[@whatcookgoodlook]

Who up watching Mrs. Ding

[@hanaw1982]

Hi Mr Katz, I’m from China and I’m fascinated by your works. But I’ve got a question which puzzles me and somehow put me off from homemade fermented food. in Chinese news media we often read news about people having food poisoning after eating homemade fermented veggies because of a chemical called nitrosamine, which they claim will be naturally produced during the fermentation process. but i have read thru quite a lot of western literature on fermentation and nobody mentions that chemical, and i wonder what the reason is for such disparity? would you please shed some light on this ? many thanks!

[@arthas640]

1:30 i like this series but the oldest evidence of alcohol in China are from 7000BC while there's evidence of a brewery in Israel from 8000BC, 1000 years older. As for the invention of pickled foods or sauerkraut that depends on whether you're talking about intentionally pickled foods or accidentally pickled foods,and whether you're talking about pickled foods in general or pickled cabbage specifically. Accidentally pickled foods happened all over on a sporadic basis, but people were utilizing fermented dairy products also around 8000BC in the Fertile Crescent. The earliest intentionally pickled foods likely happened during the Neolithic revolution, which happened in the Fertile Crescent around 10,000-8,000BC first so it's likely that fermentation and pickling started there as well. I've always been interested in Chinese culture since they're one of the oldest civilizations on earth and have created many inventions over that long time but they do have a habit of claiming alot of inventions that were either invented elsewhere or were invented independently of their invention in China, which is a form of "cultural imperialism". Things like fermentation is so simple and happens often naturally so it's likely it was invented in many areas independently of each other, it's quiet possible that ancient China didnt know anything about brewing beer in Israel or pickled veggies in Iraq, so it's not like they just copied the idea but that doesnt mean they get sole credit either. I've noticed that the CCP especially tends to gently push the narrative that China invented or discovered something before other countries, like a fairly recent theory that China discovered the Americas as early as 3000 years ago or a similar theory that the Ming Treasure Voyages sailed to the Americas in the early 1400s, over 50 years before Columbus. The CCP tends to favor these sorts of things since it makes China appear more historically and culturally significant and gives them more prestige while diminishing the West who they tend to view as rivals (keep in mind that I'm talking about the CCP specifically here and not Chinese people as a whole, I dont know how most PRC citizens feel about these theories).

[@alexvikendi1768]

Hottest chili peppers who caught me by surprised were from China (or Asia generally) Don't get me wrong a bird eye dried chili pepper from the caraïbes islands is already crazy hot you can't let it on your tongue more than a few secondes, bite into one by mistake into a large tomato sauce for pasta, made me sick for a few minutes But be careful with normal looking red peppers from China or Asia... It's always a surprised lol Great video, would love to visit madame ding thanks

[@DejaVuEXP]

Someone show this to those South Korean internet trolls under Chinese youtuber Li ziqi and dianxi xiaoge’s videos. Apparently they think any pickled vegetables infused with chili pepper a Korean invention.

[@markmolnar6200]

A particular part of Pork butt not belly. But thank you for the amazing and inspiring works. Addictive and helpful.

[@BuzzLiteBeer]

I shocked that there's an oil-based ferment since oil typically spoils other ferments, but I think the drying process prior to adding oil removes the water required for bad bacteria. I guess lactic acid bacteria are tolerant of dry conditions as well.

You are amazing! Please come to Cambodia we need your help Cambodian have lost so much of their culinary history due to the killing field.

[@baafje]

Amazing down to earth shoot about food culture. Keep up the good work!

[@ImdaVP]

the kindness displayed by Mrs Ding is the sort I hope to master the art of in my own life.

[@danharrity9406]

The addition of the medicinal herb to the ferment in intriguing.

[@nancyblackett8777]

Sandor is incredible!! He knows his stuff🤩

[@a.p1675]

So beutiful people. So inspiring! Thank u for this! ❤

[@LarryWestfall]

Very interesting. Really enjoyed watching your journey.

[@artistmama1]

I'm so glad to see you post this. And what an interesting video! I loved it. Please post more often. You are an amazing man, Sandor. I purchased your first book years ago when it first came out, and I have been fermenting everything I can find like crazy ever since! :-) Thank you so much for your contributions to better health through the consumption of great tasting fermented foods and drinks!

[@林慶-q1m]

the 丁丁糖 has nothing to do with Mr. 丁,LOL

[@gummydogs]

Here from SeriousEats. What an amazing story!

[@helenabobena]

this honestly made me tear up with joy Sandor & Mara... thank you for showcasing such amazing folks for this and I'm so honored to be able to see this and know of Mrs. Ding. true heroes of humanity - you all 🖤 (I know im so late to the game here but I had to say it)

[@petracripps75]

Sending love to Mrs. Ding.

[@caviddhen]

Green garlic not spring onion in the twice cooked pork ;+)

[@melonmelonii]

they always use both hands when they toss their wine

[@jadehammond1032]

Thank you for the video and the notes in the description. I am very interested in fermentation, especially lacto-fermentation, and I'm also interested in learning more about how to make many of the foods I see in the market and like to eat. I especially appreciate your advice about using hard alcohol to deal with yeast growth. Yeast has been a thorn in my side in my efforts to lacto-ferment vegetables. I would, however, like to point out that I think you may have meant Bai Jiu (白酒) instead of Huang Jiu. Huang Jiu (黄酒) is a rice wine, while Bai Jiu is China's famous hard alcohol made from sorghum. Again, thanks for your hard work in making these videos.

[@normawingo5116]

Thank you so much for sharing this incredible journey with us. I’m just learning about fermentation and this is lovely.

[@AnkurPandeyef]

How does this series have 50k views!!! 🤯

[@AnkurPandeyef]

Brilliant work, thank you 🙏🏼

[@gioelevonharburn6165]

Oh my god, this documentary is fantastic... During my trip to Korea, I fell in love with kimchi and for years I've been practicing various spontaneous fermentations, from beer to vegetables. I'm planning a trip to China to gain knowledge about cooking. This series of videos is simply perfect, the quality of the footage is extraordinary and the topics are very interesting.

[@diegoportillacarreno2381]

People from all around the world are grateful for your inspiring journey, thank you so much Sandor Katz! Love from Australia

[@JakobKulzer]

This was delightful and interesting to watch! Thank you!

[@adastra3147]

I'm in love with your work I'm doing so much fermentation at home now!!!!

[@markevenden2386]

fantastic. ..have just made my first kimchi now to try one of these. My only feedback is as you know so many combinations ..which ones would you use for various problems. I noticed Mrs ding used a medicinal herb for instance - what was that for? Say if you wanted a clearer mind. Or less flatulence?

[@miguel--rush]

Gracias estimado Sandor Katz..! Desde Argentina..Felicidades..! Thank you dear Sandor Katz ..! From Argentina .. Congratulations ..!

[@samuelsong5061]

h. pylori and nitrosamine ALERT! but damn its all so delicious. :P btw, i think 7:31 is garlic sprout/shoots蒜苗 and not spring onions.

[@anders.svensson]

A fantastic movie!

[@TheLeyaKa]

What a beautiful presentation and such a nice intro into everyday's Chinese fermentation life, what a beautiful a generous people, love it, love the culture, food, everything about it, thank you so much for sharing it!

[@sylvan7871]

inspiring, thank you

[@acarmendelamo6534]

Excelente reportaje. La fotografía y la música excelentes. Sandor, me gusta muchisimo su voz y como vocaliza. Por fin entiendo a un gringo!

[@zacbunch5691]

That was awesome!

[@lmd2454]

My sister-in-law is Chinese and when her husband was living in China, prior to their marriage, his mother (my MIL) went to visit him. She had so many stories of the hospitality of the Chinese people!

[@neofliermike]

Very quality! Ty!

[@GhostCharacter]

The pods at 5:24 look like gardenia fruits! a healthy spice used to give a rich yellow color to pickled radish and other foods.

[@amiewatson5497]

This is amazing! You should be on Netflix. But you need better background music.

[@g.h.7661]

Oh my gosh I love this so much. Thank you for your wonderful work!!!

[@Lawman212]

Thank you so much for sharing the recipes. What wondrous dishes! This whole series is marvelous.

[@pamelabatchelor9204]

I found you through Saveur I already have all of your books! My problem is I never get started. Now I'm re-inspired.

[@instantwalrus]

Beautiful! I can't wait for the next one.

[@stevenbates7790]

Wow...loving this ride. So much wish I could share in the flavors. I really want to try some of these recipes, but it could be a challenge coming up with all the spices state-side.

[@tinyjungle_]

Poor pigs

[@gratefulgoddess420]

Bellissimo 💋👍

[@sappysamurai5170]

Love all the food wisdom you share Sander!! Thank you and blessings to you and all of your team! 🙏🏼✨✨✨💕💕

[@peterandrews5956]

What a terrific video! Loved the subject matter and the filmmaking and music were terrific as well.

[@Kchevere]

gracias amigo,por compartir tus experiencias y tu sabiduria,,gracias a los dos,desde España

[@lalalalelelele7961]

Is there any book or place where one could learn different recipes? Or how the ingredients go together?

[@aidancox3705]

For the mature brines - do you feed them more sugar over time as the microbes consume it or just leave as is? is the sugar in the new veg you put into it enough?

[@maryleialoha2843]

I feel like I stumbled onto a treasure in finding this channel, as you stumbled onto your treasure by meeting Mr. and Mrs. Ding at the beginning of your remarkable journey!

[@jkimjacobs]

Wow, very well done. I love the topic and the quality of the video. Keep up the great work. Thank you!

[@nancythomas-wardm.b.a2993]

Oh my my ....Welsh up a mountain in Turkey...wonderfullllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll xxxn

[@steveraman4562]

excellent info wish all of you the very best kep it going

[@MichaelSHartman]

The Dings sound absolutely delightful. Thanks for showing us.

[@queenvictoriaii6772]

Thank you for a most enjoyable education. Can't wait to try these out!

[@fishermann1102]

I really enjoyed watching this. Thank you so much.

[@MrTurp82]

I love watching your videos, the passion you show is addictive and inspiring. Keep it up!

[@cpa314]

This is an amazing series! Chinese pickling and fermentation techniques are so fascinating.

[@garbonsai]

Thank you for releasing this series. Very much enjoying!

[@CloudyWishes]

Sandor thank you so much for this deliciously presented teaser x

[@Anthro777]

I love Mr and Mrs Ding. Lovely people!

[@mapuanakupuna3471]

Excellent! Thanks to all who shared their knowledge!

[@magda5300]

Wow! Great episode. Thank you.

[@gabbishleegifted4752]

i didn't start this in order, but awesome series guys!

[@kevinjoseph517]

are fermented black beans hard? how to make?

[@TamRonRVCarnivore]

Love the film, so interesting to learn so much more.

[@nr1davidbrodin]

I just love this!!:)

[@thakopia]

This is such an awesome show! I hope there are new seasons in the future! :)

[@pearshapedeve]

absolutely fascinating.

[@neniramirez9935]

I love it so much. Thank you.

[@susunslatky9278]

The photography, the scripts, and the presentation are all stellar! Kudos.

[@susunslatky9278]

And, the music just pulls it all together so beautifully!

[@mattbueron2652]

4:37, for some weird reason I am obsessed to know what this long green thing is. I know it’s just something minor, but my curiosity and need to know is killing me

[@sandorkraut]

In English it's known as celtuce, it's a stalking lettuce. You can find it at many Asian groceries in the US. Seeds are widely available too, and I've been growing it. Delicious!

[@mattbueron2652]

sandorkraut thank you for the information sir

[@abhinavthomas7630]

I love your videos.

[@flameout3273]

Amazing work！

[@elifsoyarslan8254]

so well made!!! amazing!

[@flam3srock]

Wonderful series!!!!

[@74zion]

Phenomenal!!!

[@ludyRoZ]

[@spv7n1k]

Wonderful!

[@cwalsh0943]

Great video!