Types of Fermented Foods

Fermented foods generally bring to mind foods like kimchi or sauerkraut. In fact, many people do not know there are many more fermented foods available. They may also not know there are different types of fermented foods out there. In other words, you don't have to be limited to cabbage fermentation. Here are a few of the fermented food types and what you should know about each one.

Yogurt

Fermented raw milk is one of the most common and popular of the fermented food types. In fact, many people don't think of yogurt as a fermented food at all, but it is. Yogurt starts off with a base a heated milk and a small amount of live yogurt. This can be a powder version of yogurt culture that you can purchase at health food stores, or it can be a high quality plain yogurt. The milk should be whole milk to give you the full benefit. You heat the mixture and then cool it down slowly to allow the culture to work and ferment the milk. You can add fruit or other items to the yogurt. 

Kombucha

Kombucha may be something that you have seen in health food drink section, but you may not know what it is. Kombucha is a fairly simply fermented drink to make at home, and is one of the many fermented foods that people start off with. Kombucha is a mixture of tea, sugar, water, and a culture base. The flavor can be altered, but the base flavor is something akin to tart apples or a sweet and sour drink. You can add different fruits to alter this slightly. 

Vegetable Based

Kimchi, sauerkraut, pickles, and carrots are just a few of the vegetables that you will find on vegetable based lists of fermented foods. In fact, people ingest one of the most common vegetable based fermented foods daily on sandwiches or just plain. That food is pickles. Most of the vegetable fermented foods are either shredded and placed in a vinegar and culture based mixture or are simply pickled and allowed to ferment as a whole vegetable. 

Fruit Based 

You may not think of fruits when you think of fermentation and fermented foods, but they are another method to get fermented foods in your diet. When people ferment fruit, they tend to make syrups that can be added to foods later. You can also use them in baking and even as alcohol. 

These are only four types of fermented foods. There are others, but these groups will get you started and get your body acclimated to what fermented foods can do. You can also learn different techniques of fermentation from these different categories. 
