For Kenji Morimoto, who grew up in a food-loving family in Chicago, "being ethnically Japanese meant fermented and pickled products were a staple for nearly everything we made--cloudy miso soup, sweet soy sauce-glazed chicken wings, aromatic pickled cucumbers...." Ferment contains recipes for about 50 dishes and drinks, each of which requires at least one fermented or pickled ingredient. These ingredients can be store-bought, although the book's recipes for ferments may entice the intrepid home chef--someone who has, say, mastered the sourdough starter and is ready for another challenge.
The remarkable payoffs of fermented flavors--Morimoto cites "umami, sourness, funk, the quintessential Japanese savory sweetness"--are starkest in the book's takes on familiar dishes. The kimchi in the shakshuka recipe adds both crunch and heat. Miso hummus with umami zucchini and pine nuts delivers a double-miso blast. Versatile miso also stars in a recipe for blondies: the ferment gives the dessert's topping a perky halvah-like taste. Luscious-looking color photos of fermented dishes don't betray the unappetizing-sounding side benefit of eating them: gut health. --Nell Beram, author and freelance writer