Spoonful Suppers

For the past two weeks I have been attending the virtual koji convention. It has been so inspiring to return to koji growing! I grew citric barley koji this week, which is a bit different from the regular koji that have have grown in the past. This mold produces citric acid as it grows through the barley, making it taste lemon-y and delicious. I took the finished citric barley koji and blended it with water to make “sweet citric koji water” which can be used as a white wine replacement with a bit more umami in cooking. It is currently in my freezer until I strain it. The more exciting koji on the horizon is an alcoholic bubbly amazake that I am planning on making this upcoming week. I will use more of the citric barley koji to make a bubbly yummy wine-beer crossover.

Speaking of wine, my plum wine finished its alcoholic stage yesterday, which means it is ready to become vinegar. I, however, am not ready for it to become vinegar. My air pump is currently being used for the butternut squash vinegar, which is not finished. The plum wine is now patiently waiting in the fridge. I’m a bit confused how someone who spends hours looking at her fermentation spreadsheet can still somehow mess up the timing of her vinegars. I guess I just need even more face time with excel. It is very exciting watching more and more of the boxes on the spreadsheet go from white to green as I complete ferments. The kombucha section of the spreadsheet is almost a solid green block, just a few more to go.

In an attempt to fill in the gaps in the kombucha portion of my spreadsheet, I made coffee kombucha tiramisu. I don’t particularly love tiramisu, but my housemates have been enjoying it, so much so that one of my housemates ate only tiramisu for all three meals one day and was shocked when her stomach hurt.

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This week I also started a lemon verbena batch of kombucha, which is tasting pretty damn delicious right now, but it still has a few days to go. I am very excited for the finished product. Next week I will hopefully make the amazake, start the vinegar phase of my plum vinegar, and start elderberry kombucha.

Ferments Completed: 22

Ferments in Progress: 8

Ferments to go: 144