Fermented Herbs: Part 1 Make Your Own

 An herbal carrot kraut.  Can you guess the herbs? photo from The Resiliency Institute

There are two options for getting more fermented herbs in your life.  See some of the other articles on this blog for reasons why that might be a good idea.  Otherwise here is the first vehicle...

The first is to brew/ferment your own food or drink that contains the herbs you're interested in consuming.  This is a relatively simple option if you have some experience fermenting food.  If you don't,  then it's probably time to get started.  I do teach classes on fermenting foods so you'll either have to come visit Hawaii to take one,  or you'll need to invite me out to give a class in your town.  Or simply check out this video on fermenting veggies.  If you still want to know how much salt to add use 1.5 teaspoon per pound of vegetables. 

Fermented vegetables are usually what I recommend people begin with.  They are not only ridiculously healthy for a number of reasons,  they are fairly simple to make.  But fermented beverages are also simple to make.   If you want personalized help or coaching around either of these shoot me an email or leave a comment.

Adding fresh, dried, or powdered herbs to your vegetable of beverage ferments makes them a potent vehicle for ingesting those very herbs.  In previous posts  you've seen that fermentation increases the absorbability (also referred to as bioavailability: bio-avai-la-bility... what a wonderful word) of the antioxidants and other substances in medicinal herbs.  This is generally true for minerals as well.  Here is an example.  So maybe consuming a fermented food "enhanced" with a beneficial herb might just might be the fermented functional food you've been waiting for.  

In the next post I'll talk about some fermented herbal products on the market.  In the meantime,  get started making your own.  Here is my favorite video explaining how to do just that.  For more questions contact me via my Facebook page: Ferment To Be

Fermented Turmeric Tea

I love Turmeric.  Not only because the color is like liquid sunshine, but because of all great health benefits such as prevention of certain types of cancers and inflammation diseases.  My girlfriend will only drink it once in a while, and reluctantly at that, because she wants to keep her teeth white- liquid sunshine can stain white teeth.  She's a good sport, sampling many concoctions that I make. I drink it when I remember, and I don't think it really stains my teeth.  Those that work with turmeric know that it's yellowing potential is huge when working with it, but it will quickly fade over the next day.

Fermented turmeric tea aka fermented ukon is a common drink in Okinawa. Why ferment Turmeric? Because the Okinawans do, and they live for a long, long time. But really,  it makes a milder tasting turmeric.  I've tested this my self.  A Japanese friend of mine was kind enough to fulfill my request for Japanese fermented turmeric tea when she visited recently.  The tea comes in a granular form, in a paper tea bag.  Directions say to boil the tea for 4-5 minutes then drink.  The writing on the box says that fermentation reduces the bitterness of turmeric.  Swanson claims that fermenting turmeric also ensures high concentration of curcuminoids, the property of turmeric believed to be so beneficial. Can you send me your studies that confirm that, Swanson?  

It was nice to try the Japanese brand tea, but since we have so much fresh turmeric in Hawaii, I wanted to make my own fermented version at home.

Fermented turmeric tea

I've made my own fermented turmeric following this process. 

1. Ferment slices of fresh turmeric in a sugar water using a lactic acid bacteria starter culture.

2. Slice .5 lb fresh turmeric.

3. Add to quart size mason Jar with 3 cups purified water and about .5 cup sugar

4.  Add starter lactic acid bacteria starter culture in the form of ginger bug, water kefir, or something else.

Turmeric fermenting in a lactic acid bacteria brew

5. Stir regularly for the first few days, cover from bugs, and ferment until it stops bubbling.

6. Dry the pieces of turmeric in a low oven or dehydrator. 

BTW in case you are new to fermentation, the bacteria consume the sugars in the water, as well as in the turmeric, and quite possibly increase the bio availability of beneficial compounds in the turmeric.

The resulting turmeric is sweet smelling and lighter in color than the fresh turmeric and presumably better for you.

Dried, fermented turmeric.  Mine in the front, Japanese brand in the back.

Other ways to incorporate fermented turmeric in your diet:

 Add powdered or fresh turmeric to live kim chi or sauerkraut.  Possibly add a few slices to a bottle of kombucha and leave on the counter for a day or two, at which time the bacteria, acids, and enzymes can perform their work.  What about adding the powder to sourdough pancakes?  Or perhaps mixing a few tbs of powder into your miso?  These are some ways to ferment turmeric.  Not saying they will taste super great, but they will most likely be super great for you.