01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
Sourdough
pào cài mū shuǐ | 泡菜母水
Kombucha
Nukadoko | 糠床 (ぬかどこ)
bái suān tāng | 白酸汤
hóng suān tāng | 红酸汤 (under construction)
jiuqu |酒曲 (under construction)
sakadane | 酒種
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
Sourdough
pào cài mū shuǐ | 泡菜母水
Kombucha
Nukadoko | 糠床 (ぬかどこ)
bái suān tāng | 白酸汤
hóng suān tāng | 红酸汤 (under construction)
jiuqu |酒曲 (under construction)
sakadane | 酒種
In some areas, tap water contains chlorine for disinfection purposes — but this can also kill the microbes we need for fermentation. In that case, you can either boil the water in a pot with a wide opening to let the chlorine evaporate (an electric kettle may not do the job), or you may need to buy bottled water.
Water also differs in terms of mineral content. While hard water contains more minerals — which can serve as fuel for microbes — it sometimes tastes worse than soft water. But we’ll come back to this topic in the kombucha chapter.
I find it much easier to work with organic produce, as it’s free from pesticides. This is especially important when doing any kind of lacto fermentation with vegetables or fruits — you don’t need to scrub the skins too hard when cleaning them, and that’s where the most vibrant microbes usually live.
If organic products aren’t available, try to find fresh produce from your local market, or forage for wild food.
Natural yeast fed simply with water and flour for bread baking
I got this starter from a friend, whose aunt originally raised it in East Germany in the early 1990s, when their family opened an organic store that also sold freshly baked sourdough bread. So I named this starter after his aunt.
starter : flour : water
I prefer to keep a small amount of sourdough to avoid too much discard. I usually keep 5 g from the previous batch and add 25 g of water and 25 g of flour.
For my standard bread, I typically need about 40 g of sourdough, which is more than enough.
Once the sourdough has doubled in size, you can start adding it to your dough. This usually takes about 6–10 hours, depending on the room temperature.
If you store it in the fridge, you can check its condition once a week:
- If it is not rising or only rises a little, let it rest further in the fridge. If you want to bake with it, bring it to room temperature until it doubles in size, then feed it again before baking.
- If it becomes liquidy, feed it directly.
- If there is black liquid forming on top, pour off the liquid and feed the starter again.
Brigitte is definitely an omnivore. I’ve tried wheat, rye, spelt, emmer, einkorn, quinoa, buckwheat, rice, corn... and she gets along with all of them!
You can decide the percentage of each flour type in your bread. I like to use 200g whole grain (often a mix of different whole grains), and 200g of German Typ 1050 or Italian Tipo 0.
300g water (75% hydration)
This is not a fixed number. Rye and quinoa absorb more water than other whole grain flours. Flours with higher protein allow for stronger gluten development, which also means they can handle more water.
If you want to make sourdough baking a long-term hobby, it's worth documenting your parameters each time — your intuition will develop over time!
40g sourdough starter (10% of the flour)
6g salt
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1. Mix all the ingredients.
Some people prefer to mix just the flour and water first (autolysis) to improve gluten development. Others prefer to mix the water, starter, and whole grain flour first, so the microbes can start enjoying their whole grain meal early on.
Every method has its reasoning — just do what feels right to you!
2. Knead the dough
Knead until you see the "windowpane effect" — a sign of good gluten structure.
3. Fold the dough every 30–60 minutes.
I personally never leave the dough at room temperature for more than 5 hours, as it can easily over-ferment.
Again, documenting your process each time — including the resting time between steps — really helps in the long run.
4. Shape the dough and place it in a basket. Bulk fermentation begins.
I prefer to keep bulk fermentation at room temperature for no more than 1 hour, then transfer the dough to the fridge overnight.
I once heard in a workshop that fermentation needs to last at least 8 hours for the nutrients in the flour to be fully transformed into a more digestible form. That’s why some people with FODMAP sensitivities can tolerate long-fermented sourdough, but not the 2-hour supermarket bread.
5. Score the bread and bake.
Be quick and bold with your scoring!
Adding steam at the beginning is essential. I find that tossing a few ice cubes into the Dutch oven is much easier than using a spray bottle.
This is a very simplified step-by-step recipe. I assume anyone who got this sourdough starter has at least some experience with bread baking.
If not, don’t worry — you’ll find tons of tutorials in any languages across the internet!
5g dehydrated sourdough
15g water
Let it sit, stir, let it sit again, stir again — over the course of about two hours, the dried starter will gradually dissolve into the water.
2
Add:
Previous starter mixture (from step 1)
15g flour
15g water
Stir vigorously to incorporate as much oxygen as possible into the mixture.
3
Once the starter begins to bubble and develops a pleasantly sour smell, it means the microbes have reawakened.
Continue repeating Step 2 every 12–24 hours.
When the starter can double in volume within a few hours after feeding, it’s fully reactivated — you can now switch to your regular feeding schedule and begin baking with it.
Some dehydrated sourdough starters
泡菜母水
Based on its meaning, it can probably be translated into English as follows:
'Mother Water of Pickles’
I started this batch 08. 2023 in Berlin. When I was back in Changsha, China, my hometown in 2025, I got a 20 years old batch from a friend of my grandma and added it to mine batch.
Lao Tan Pao Cai (老坛泡菜) means ‘pickles from an old jar’.
It refers to a jar that usually starts with a batch of vegetables lacto-fermented in around 7% salt brine, and is then constantly fed with fresh vegetables over time.
Pao Cai Mu Shui (泡菜母水) is the brine from such a permanent jar, which contains a lot of active lactic acid bacteria. You can add the brine to your regular lacto fermentation to accelerate the process, or to start your own Lao Tan Pao Cai from scratch.
Once you have a Lao Tan Pao Cai, you can simply toss fresh vegetables into the jar and take them out the next day — this is called Tiao Shui Pao Cai (跳水泡菜), ‘diving pickles’.
Prepare a jar of at least 1 liter capacity.
2
Prepare a mix of fresh vegetables
including some aromatic roots and spices such as garlic, celery, chili, ginger, radish, etc.
Place them into the jar.
3
Layering of the veggies in the jar
Put garlic and ginger at the bottom — they can stay in the jar much longer. Then add chili and celery, followed by root vegetables.
4
Pour water into the jar
until it reaches about 90% full.
Then pour the water back out into a bowl, stir in a spoonful of salt, and pour the brine back into the jar.
5
Finish by covering the top with a cabbage leaf
and placing a weight on top to keep everything submerged.
6
Optional
Add 1–2 spoonfuls of your favorite high-proof alcohol to boost the flavor.
7
Lactofermentation is anaerobic, so seal the jar tightly to keep oxygen out!
8
Observe daily — if bubbles start to appear, fermentation has begun. It should be ready in about 7 days at a room temperature
9
Once it's ready, you can start removing some of the top vegetables and replacing them with fresh ones.
Each time you add new vegetables, don’t forget to add the equivalent amount of salt to maintain the balance!
Veggies prepared for the Jar.
Chilis and read radishes are giving the water a nice color
The key to making good paocai is to keep the brine flavourful.
On the one hand, you can flavour it by adding different spices and herbs according to your taste. Garlic, chilli and Sichuan peppercorns are all classic choices. In my region, people also add jiaotou (Allium chinense) and zisu (Perilla frutescens).
That said, you can be creative and use whatever is available where you live.
On the other hand, by continually reusing the brine and adding fresh vegetables to it, the flavour gradually deepens over time.
Adding a batch from an older jar can not only speed up fermentation but also deepen the flavour.
My jar started tasting much more delicious after a full year of feeding and care.
After two years of looking after my jar, I received a 20-year-old batch from a friend of my grandmother and added it to my own. The aroma of the pickles became far more intense and complex than ever before — now it brings me so much joy simply to open the jar each time.
Photo of the 20-year-old jar from my grandma’s friend
— a traditional form used for storing pickles.
The Feeding
Experiment with the local vegetables available to you!
Every latitude and climate zone has its own distinctive varieties of food.
Most recipes available online are written by Chinese authors following the traditional Sichuan style, so white radish, carrot and long cowpea are very common ingredients. Where I come from, people even pickle sweet potatoes.
Where I now live, in Germany, the white radishes are a different variety and often taste too bitter. As a result, my favourite vegetables for paocai have become parsnips, pointed cabbage and cherry radishes — and even apples.
A probiotic drink
I got a piece of SCOBY from a girl in Berlin that I connected with on xiaohongshu in the winter of 2024.
tea leaves(depending on the tea variety) : starter liquid : sugar : water
+ a piece of SCOBY
For example:
Brew 8g of black tea leaves with around 900g of water. Keep tasting the tea to make sure the flavor doesn’t go off.
Dissolve 100g of sugar into the hot tea.
Once it cools down to room temperature, add 100g of pre-fermented liquid and a piece of SCOBY.
Meanwhile, in China, some people who call themselves kombucha orthodox insist on using only high-quality tea leaves. They see kombucha as an extension of the tasting culture surrounding traditional tea ceremonies.
Personally, I also enjoy making kombucha solely with tea, partly because it’s more accessible to me, but also because I believe the quality of the tea determines the taste. If you know how to brew a good cup of tea, you can be sure the resulting kombucha will taste fantastic.
When brewing tea for kombucha, I always check the TDS level of the water—either filtering tap water or using bottled water with low mineral content. I’ve tried brewing large batches in a big pot, but I always end up going back to the traditional gaiwan method. It gives me better control over the brewing time for each infusion, and thus the flavor. Plus, it helps me avoid that slight metallic taste that sometimes comes from stainless steel pots.
Brewing with Gaiwan
The color change before and after the fermentation
coffee bean : fermented liquid : sugar : water
For example:
Grind 100g of coffee beans and let them sit in 900g of cold water in the fridge for 24–48 hours.
Dissolve 100g of sugar in 100g of boiling water.
Once the coffee is ready, strain out the grounds and mix in the sugar water.
When everything has cooled to room temperature, add your starter liquid and a SCOBY.
That said, this method uses a relatively large amount of coffee beans, so I’m always a bit hesitant about whether I should keep making it.
I’m not a coffee expert (just a regular cappuccino drinker), so maybe this is something better explored by someone more deeply into coffee — especially with different types of beans.
Someone I met in Changsha once recommended trying to brew kombucha using whole coffee beans, without grinding them. A friend from Colombia, who’s building his own coffee brand, told me that in some of the farms he visited, people even make kombucha with the flesh of the coffee fruit. These are flavors I can only try to imagine!
A traditianal Japanese way to make pickels with rice bran
Zuke (漬け | つけ) means pickle.
Nukazuke (糠漬け) Traditional Japanese pickles made using rice bran.
Nukadoko (糠床 | ぬかどこ) literally means “bran bed.” It refers to the seasoned rice bran base in which vegetables (or other ingredients) are buried and fermented.
After about a week, swap out the veggies. If you're fermenting at room temperature, you’ll notice the doko becoming fluffier and warmer after 2–3 weeks. From that point on, you can start fermenting the vegetables you actually want to eat—most will be ready to harvest in 4 to 12 hours.
Another easier way to start a nukadoko is by using a pre-mixed pack from a Japanese market.
Alternatively, you can introduce active lactic acid bacteria using other fermented foods—such as sake, laozao, or the brine from pao cai—as a starter.
This only works if you’re okay with those ingredients leaving some of their own flavor in the nukadoko.
My nukadoko is mainly seasoned with plenty of black pepper and the peels of lemon and lime. This was inspired by recipes where people use Sichuan pepper and Yuzu peel—ingredients that, unfortunately, aren’t easily accessible where I live.
Radish and carrots are very typical, though I’m not a big fan of them. Aubergine is also quite common, but I’ve heard that European varieties can be too firm for this kind of fermentation.
There are also recipes for fermenting tofu, eggs, tomatoes, even avocado.
But so far, I’m definitely the biggest fan of nuka apple!
I came across a blog post by the Nordic Food Lab documenting their nukadoko recipe using oat bran and beer
If you’re based in Europe and really miss the classic rice bran flavor, you might try reaching out to some organic farms in Italy—there’s a better chance of finding it there.
白酸汤
Lacto-fermented rice-rinsing water
I bought my Bái Suān starter at a local market in Kaili, Guizhou.
Suān sour
Tāng soup
Bái Suān Tāng, often colloquially referred to simply as Bái Suān, is a distinctive fermented food from Guizhou, traditionally prepared by the Miao people. It is made from rice-rinsing water, which still contains a significant amount of starch. The liquid is heated until the starch gelatinises, then bottled and left to undergo lactic acid fermentation.
Bái Suān Tāng is commonly used as a base for hot pots and soups, where it contributes a gentle acidity and subtle grainy depth of flavour.
At the local market in Kaili, Guizhou, vendors sell homemade starters for bái suān and hóng suān, packaged in reused plastic bottles.
To make your own Bái Suān starter, you will need an airtight jar.
As ingredient, I prefer to use rice-rinsing water, although gelatinised rice flour can also be used.
The steps
1. Rinse the rice two or three times and collect the water.
2. Heat the liquid to above 60°C while stirring continuously, until the starch gelatinises.
3. Allow it to cool to room temperature before adding the starter culture.
4. Transfer the mixture to the airtight jar and leave it to ferment for approximately one week.
Add flavour
I love using litsea, a traditional spice commonly added to suān tāng dishes. I like to add a small amount to the jar as well, which gives the ferment a subtle lemony aroma and flavour.
For everyday home cooking, Bái Suān can be used as a base for a light vegetable soup. By mixing half Bái Suān and half water (if you want to reduce the acidity), you can cook vegetables such as tomato, bean sprouts, courgette, cabbage, and so on. It works very well as a noodle soup base, or as a side dish alongside richer, heavier dishes.
Fun fact: When I visited a fusion sake brewery in Berlin, I was told that they use a mixture of cooked and uncooked rice to undergo lactic acid fermentation. This is then added to their sake fermentation to give it a more vibrant lactic character. I guess they share the same principle with the bái suān tāng fermentation!
A liquid starter fed with koji and rice, can be used to ferment dough.
Common in China and Japan for Bao cooking and bread baking.
Previous starter : cooked rice : koji : water
My regular feeding amount:
5g previous starter
25g rice
15g koji
15g water
After the feeding, let it sit at room temperature for 12 hours. Then aerate, seal, and refrigerate overnight for the use at the next day.
As I am very new with this type of starter, so far I have been only making toast with it. But the plan is to try it with more sweet and fluffy pastry, such as Baozi, Juanzi, Germknödel etc.
Toast
PS:
I'm using a Japanese L160 toast form (about 160 × 80 × 80 mm).
Pre-dough
37g sakadane
37g milk
37g flour
Let rest at room temperature for 1.5–2 hours until it doubles in volume.
Main dough
Predough
150g flour
I enjoy eating soft, white (admittedly unhealthy) toast, so for this type of bread, I prefer using flour with high gluten and low ash content. In Germany, where I live, that means looking for flour with a type number below 450, but with more than 12g of protein per 100g—which is nearly impossible to find. So I usually go for Italian tipo 00 flour or pizza flour instead.85g milk
20g yoghurt
10g sugar
3g salt
10g butter
Mix all the ingredients until well combined, and let the dough proof at room temperature for 1–2 hours. Then cover and place it in the fridge to ferment overnight.
On the second day, take the dough out of the fridge and let it come back to room temperature for about 30 minutes.
Shape the dough and place it into the toast form. Let it continue fermenting at room temperature until it rises to 80–90% of the height of the form. This can take anywhere between 2 to 6 hours, depending on the environment and dough activity.
Bake at around 200°C for about 30 minutes. Adjust based on your oven and preferred crust color.