After I started making fermented foods, I discovered it is more like farming rather than cooking.
Natto (fermented soy beans) and Koji (fermented grain) are made with particular types of fungi. Just like other living creatures, the fungi need air, water and food. They like a certain range of temperature, humidity and light exposure.
Depending on which species you are raising, the ideal condition is different. It’s the same as animals and vegetables. Not all dogs or cats are the same. Neither are all carrots or lettuces. And they change as they grow. You need to keep observing and adjust the environment accordingly.
When you get the Natto, Koji, cheese or other fermentation starter, the instruction typically says to sterilize everything. This is to prevent the germs that are naturally everywhere from going into the medium. This initial cleaning should give your culture a good start to grow with less competition.
In the microbe’s world, whoever takes over the medium wins. For the best bet of a particular microbe’s victory, you introduce the large volume of quality starter/culture into an ideal environment with few competitors as possible. You protect the one you are nursing by any means possible.
The mushrooms are commercially grown under strictly controlled environment to maximize the production. The medium is high in nutrients and sterilized. Certain procedures are done in a germ-free laboratory. The air, humidity, temperature and light are all controlled. Under this protection, the fungi produce a lot of mushrooms with fewer problems.
Interestingly, however, killing all germs doesn’t necessarily bring the best result of fungus growth. It is witnessed that some mushrooms that survive in non-sterilized medium are more susceptible to the contamination when growing on the completely sterilized medium. The more it is protected, the less tolerant of germs it becomes.
This reminds me our guts and the garden soil. Germs help us build up our immune system. It is synergistic. The most difficult part is to realize the good balance. We try to create and maintain the balanced environment in which the beneficial microbes can be active.
Fermentation is like between nursing a pet and growing vegetables. Fungi are not as active as animals but more active than plants. It’s a great way to learn about living creatures and life.
I keep learning how delicate and amazing the nature is by working on my little “fungi hobby farm”.