Kefir

For the past few months I have been experimenting with making a fermented dairy drink called kefir. I had never heard of the stuff until our neighbours brought some starter "mother" grains back from New York with them in January. In case you haven't had the pleasure of ever drinking or making kefir, I will regale you with all I have learned about it in the past three months.

A cluster of kefir grains

Kefir grains are symbiotic communities of around thirty different bacteria and yeast strains that produce a sugar and poysaccaride matrix that binds them all together into a cauliflower-like lump. When the grains are added to milk they ferment away and produce a wonderful drink that is chocked full of healthy living cultures. It has the consistency and flavour of thin yogurt but is actually much healthier for you since there are so many different live strains of bacteria present. For anyone curious about the nutritional content of kefir here is a website that is pretty informative. I thought it was interesting that the cultures reduce the amount of lactose in the milk by about 50% and also make it mildly alcoholic (0.5% - 2% alcohol by volume depending on the length of fermentation time).

This is the basic process that I follow to create my kefir: 

1. Place grains and milk into a container with an airtight lid and place it out of direct sunlight. 

2. Let it sit for 2 days. I might let it sit for less time once the weather gets warmer since this will speed up fermentation.

3. Pour thickened kefir through a sieve to catch all grains. 

4. Wash out the container, place the grains back in and start all over again.

Fresh milk kefir, ready to drink!

Using this method I produce about a liter of kefir every two days. I find that it is the perfect amount for the four of us to put on granola or drink with a bit of honey and cinnamon. The grains will also grow larger and produce more grains over time. I have found that it is kind of like chain letters, the more kefir I make, the more grains I grow and have to give away to new people. One interesting thing about the grains is that they often contain different communities of bacteria and yeasts depending on where the grains came from originally. This can change the flavour and texture of the kefir produced. You can actually use the grains to ferment basically any liquid that contains sugar. I tried honey water and really don't recommend it. One sip and the whole batch ended up down the drain.  

Kefir has a fairly bizzare and interesting history stretching back at least a few thousand years that includes princes, magic, beautiful communists, and kidnapping. 

If you ever get the opportunity to get some kefir grains, or are anywhere near Fukuyama and would like a few of mine, be sure to take them. There is actually an international exchange where you can obtain starter grains wherever you are in the world. It is an easy, tasty, and healthy experiment and lots of fun to prepare! 

Milk in Japan

I am not too picky when it comes to milk. Because of all the traveling and moving I have done in my life, I have gotten to try milk in all sorts of forms. I liked the whole pasteurized stuff we drank when I was young, the UHT milk that came in a cardboard carton in Cambodia, the unpasteurized milk I ladled from a tank into a pail when I stayed in North Dakota, the powdered and canned milk I drank the summer I was building trails in the woods, goat's milk when I have had it, and even fermented mare's milk. Yes, I love milk, so I was curious what I would find when I came to Japan.

The day after we arrived, I wandered into the dairy section of the grocery store and bought 2 cartons of what looked like milk. It had a cute smiling sun and a happy cow on it so I grabbed 2 and brought them home. It wasn't until later that evening when we had made a brimming jug of iced coffee with this "milk" that I started second guessing my purchase. The iced coffee was awful and when it tasted the liquid in the carton by itself, I realized it was drinkable yogurt. Oh well, we like that too, just not in iced coffee.

When I did finally find where they kept the actual milk, I surprised to find that the different varieties don't really stick to an even milk fat percentage. There is 0.4%, 0.7%, 1.7%, 2.5%, whole, and probably a lot more variation in between. In Canada, you are faced with four options: 0, 1, 2, and 3.25% milk. I now feel like I have to try every single milk brand and find the exact percentage that suits my taste. Maybe 1.2% will be slightly better than 1.3%, who knows? They also only sell milk in 1 litre containers, which is nice since our fridge is minuscule, but means that we buy milk four times a week. It does taste very different from the milk available in the U.S. and Canada. There is this hint of UHT milk in every sip. It tastes as if you mixed about 1/5 of a cup of UHT milk into "normal" milk, and must have something to do with the temperature at which they pasteurize milk in Japan. Dustin actually prefers it to our milk back home and Theo hasn't said anything about the flavour. I wonder how long it will take before this milk tastes completely normal to me?

Just in case you are wondering, the price of milk here is only slightly above what we pay back in Canada. If I were to buy four 1 litre containers, it would come out to about $5.10 Canadian. You also don't pay tax on milk here. I was also happy to discover that Japan, like Canada, Australia, and the EU, has banned the use of growth hormones (rBGH) in their milk, so we can all keep on drinking with much less worry.