Michael Pollan, Dominique Crenn, Roy Choi and More on Fermented Foods

Miso is a fermented soybean paste from Japan made by combining soybeans with salt and a fungus (Aspergillus oryzae) known as koji. There are several types of miso paste. The lightest is Saikyo miso from Kyoto. “You might know that miso as in the one that a lot of Japanese restaurants use to marinate black cod. And then it’s really beautiful. It’s nutty. It’s sweet after it’s cooked. It caramelizes,” Chef Niki Nakayama says.

“The standard white miso has a good amount of sweetness,” Niki says. “but it’s a lot more salty than that Kyoto-san miso.” Regular white miso is what you’ll typically find in miso soup. “As the colors start to get darker, it also means it’s been aged a bit more,” Niki’s sous-chef and wife Carole Iidaa Nakayama says. “So that the richness of the soybean flavor will evolve a little bit.”

Japanese nattō is soybeans fermented with the bacteria Bacillus subtilis var. Nattō. This traditional part of Japanese cuisine has a gelatinous, sticky texture—similar to okra—and a pungent, nutty smell akin to aged cheese.

Sauerkraut is finely shredded raw cabbage fermented by lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus), which give it its signature sour flavor. “Cabbage is one of the most underestimated ingredients, I think, in the world,” Chef Dominique Crenn says. “The reason why I love cabbage? Because it’s one of the staple ingredients in Brittany, where I grew up.”

“Sauerkraut, choucroute in French, is fermenting, literally, cabbage for about two weeks, just with salt. Very easy to do.” Chef Crenn says. “The process . . . is called lacto-fermentation, with a base of salt and the product only. It’s gonna create an environment where mold is not gonna grow.” Chef Crenn walks you through the process in her recipe for roasted cabbage with sauerkraut.

Sourdough starter, a combination of flour, water, and wild yeast, is the basis of sourdough bread. “People think of sourdough as a type of bread, but sourdough is actually the rising agent,” third-generation sourdough baker Apollonia Poîlane says.

When left to sit at room temperature, the starter undergoes a fermentation process that promotes the growth of lactic acid bacteria. Microbes consume the starch in the flour and release carbon dioxide, creating gas bubbles in the starter, ultimately lending sourdough bread its signature open crumb and tangy flavor. Make your own sourdough starter following Apollonia’s sourdough starter recipe.

Soy sauce is the natural liquid byproduct of fermented soybean and wheat paste. Its warm, inky brown color is primarily a result of the sugar released during the fermentation process, an example of the Maillard reaction, which occurs when sugar and amino acids come into contact with intense heat. Two types of soy sauce are popular in Japan: dark and light.

“The light one, even though we call it light, it actually is a bit saltier in a sense because the color depth that you see in the regular soy sauce, that’s kind of been a longer fermentation process for the soy, which develops more of that deep umami flavor,” sous-chef Carole Iida Nakayama says. “So the light one is used more for kaiseki cooking and in foods where you don’t want the color of the soy to penetrate into the food. So it’s more for visual effect.”

Tempeh is a compressed cake of fermented, whole soybeans and sometimes grains like brown rice or legumes like chickpeas and lentils. Tempeh is a nutritious, cholesterol-free plant protein, rich in vitamins and minerals like calcium, magnesium, and potassium. This meat alternative is usually gluten-free, but some blends can also include grains like barley.

Yogurt is fermented milk. Cooks make it by heating milk and combining it with two live cultures—Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus. The warm milk creates the perfect environment for the bacteria to grow, thickening the milk to create yogurt. You can purchase yogurt at the grocery store, but making your own homemade yogurt is a great intro to fermentation. Or, transform store-bought yogurt with this cucumber raita recipe by Madhur Jaffrey or Yotam Ottolenghi’s pasta with yogurt sauce recipe.

Probiotics are good bacteria that result due to microbial growth and fermentation. However, not all fermented foods contain probiotics. Some fermentation processes involve a step that removes or kills the probiotics. Such is the case with beer, wine, and most canned and baked goods. Some common examples of foods that often include live probiotics include yogurt, kefir, and apple cider vinegar.

Functional foods are whole or fortified fare that can potentially provide health benefits when you consume them as part of a regular diet. Since these foods do not yet have a legal definition, it’s crucial that consumers research any claims related to nutritional value and consult an accredited nutritionist or dietician before incorporating new foods into their diets. This article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for nutritional advice from a trained professional.

See food like you have never seen it before. With the MasterClass Annual Membership, journalist and educator Michael Pollan teaches you how to determine your ingredient sources, shop at the grocery store, and rethink your relationship to food.

Fermented food is any food that has undergone a process of fermentation—any metabolic process in which microorganisms’ activity creates a desirable change in food and beverages.

Fermentation can increase food’s flavor, extend its shelf life, and provide health benefits. The prebiotics and probiotics in fermented foods restore the microbiota in the gut, potentially helping improve digestion, reduce bloating, and decrease the risk of obesity.

“What is beautiful about this ancient technique is it allows you to preserve so many things that literally you can use all year long. This is not new. This is done since the beginning of time. And you have different cultures. I mean, Korea will be, I will say, kimchi. You have the sauerkraut in the east part of France, Germany. But I think every kind of culture has an area of fermentation of things.” — Chef Dominique Crenn

Some fermented foods are rich in probiotics, beneficial microorganisms that help maintain a healthy gut, allowing you to extract nutrients from food. Here are some possible health benefits of fermented foods:

1. 1. Probiotics aid the immune system. By producing antibiotic, anti-tumor, anti-viral, and antifungal gut bacteria, probiotic foods create an acidic environment unsuitable to pathogens. “Probiotic” essentially means “good bacteria.”
2. 2. Fermentation increases the vitamins and minerals in food. Fermentation can increase the amount of vitamin C and B vitamins (such as folic acid, riboflavin, niacin, thiamin, and biotin) in foods. The probiotics, enzymes, and lactic acid in fermented foods may also help facilitate the absorption of vitamins and minerals into the body.
3. 3. Fermented foods can improve heart health. The prebiotics and probiotics in fermented foods can help lower cholesterol and blood pressure levels and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Fermented foods vary widely in flavor due to differences in raw ingredients and the variety of microorganisms present within them. Many fermented foods taste acidic due to lactic acid bacteria. Fermented foods may have a pungent smell, bubbly mouthfeel, or umami richness. Some people consider these foods an acquired taste.

“Almost every culture on earth has some fermented food that they regard as really wonderful and special and other people think is kind of weird and nasty.” — Michael Pollan

Read on to learn about some of the most popular fermented foods in the world:

Kefir is a fermented dairy product made by combining milk with kefir grains, yeast, and bacteria. The resulting fermented beverage is a thick, tangy concoction full of live microorganisms that support digestive health. You can drink kefir on its own or use it to make a superfood smoothie.

Kimchi (also spelled “kimchee”) is one of the most traditional Korean dishes. “This food comes from a part of the world that has four very extreme seasons,” Chef Roy Choi says. “So you take the harvest and you ferment it so that the fermentation process allows you to eat it all throughout winter.”

The most famous type of kimchi features napa cabbage layered with salt, red chili pepper, and aromatics. “But kimchi is not napa cabbage,” Roy says. “Kimchi is a general term that refers to the kimchi-fying of whatever it is you’re gonna kimchi. So kimchi is almost like a verb.” Since the flavor base for different types of kimchi is usually the same, Roy likes to make an all-purpose kimchi paste he can use to make different fermented vegetables like radishes and cucumbers.

“Kimchi is such a beautiful thing. ’Cause it’s filled with umami. Not only does it have umami in the ingredients itself, but as it grows, kimchi can be eaten every step of the way. Can be eaten fresh, raw, after a couple days, after a week, after a few months. After a year.” — Chef Roy Choi

Kombucha is a fermented green or black tea beverage that likely originated in China, spreading both through Russia to Eastern Europe and Japan and Korea at least a few hundred years ago. To make kombucha, combine room-temperature brewed tea with a SCOBY (a symbiotic community of bacteria and yeast), and let it sit until fizzy and slightly alcoholic. If left out long enough, kombucha will turn into vinegar due to the acetic acid fermentation process.