How to Make Fermented Mallow Leaves
So there are mallow plants growing all over Southern California right now, maybe even as weeds in your yard. But you can preserve them now to enjoy later after they are gone.
First, find some mallow plants with big leaves. With all the rain this year, they can get huge. Make sure they don't have orange rust spots on them and are blemish free (we will remove insects in a subsequent step).
You will need a large amount of leaves as they will compact down a lot in subsequent steps. But you can keep adding more each day until your container is full. You can use scissors or clippers to cut the leaves off the stem, as shown below. You want as little stem as possible as it interferes with layering.
The first thing we need to do is thoroughly wash both sides in running water to remove insects, dirt, etc. Discard any leaves with orange rust spots or serious insect damage. After washing, spin dry in a salad spinner. They don't have to be completely dry, just not super wet.
Now that our mallow leaves are clean and excess water removed, we are going to do the really hard part of this recipe. Grab a small plate and put some granular sea salt on it. (I used Kirkland Signature sea salt, but any brand of sea salt is fine. Do not use iodized salt or chemical salt/NaCl.)
Grab a leaf, then touch the salt (you should pick up a small amount on your damp fingers), then rub onto both sides of the leaf. It should feel like rubbing it with sand. You only need a small, evenly distributed amount on both sides to draw out the moisture. Once the leaves are rubbed in salt, start stacking them in a clean glass container (I used a half gallon kimchi jar, but a glass bowl will also work).
Stack them in layers, altering position on the leaves to keep everything as flat as possible. Try not to tear or otherwise damage the leaves. Once you have added your leaves, add a bit of liquid culture from live, active kimchi or sauerkraut.
This is extra liquid from a previous batch. That will also work. Let everything sit for at least a week to ferment, pressing down daily into the liquid. Then put it in the fridge until you need them. If you want to use them right away, soak in plain water to desalt (optional). You can also use them as a substitute for fresh seaweed.
To store them long term, the next step is to dehydrate them. This will make them crispy like chips and they can be eaten whole & dried (you can also coat them with a thin coat of oil prior to drying if they will be eaten right away, but don't do this if they will be stored more than a week).
The batch shown above had some kimchi brine added, which gives it a reddish color. I dried them on parchment paper to make it easier to get them off the dehydrator tray. If you have some that break, put them aside to be ground up into a salt substitute, as shown below.
You can grind the dry leaves quite easily, I used a wooden pestle (or even a small glass/metal container with a flat bottom) in a salad bowl. Pass them through a sieve if you want them to be a uniform size (keep grinding the bigger pieces until they pass through.)
The powder has a nice flavor (a bit seaweed like) and can be used to add salt & flavor to dishes and baked goods.