Curtido (South American Sauerkraut)
- 1kg white cabbage (about 1 medium head)
- Sea salt (see the recipe for weight)
- 1-2 carrots, sliced or grated
- ½ red onion, sliced
- 1-2 garlic cloves, grated
- 1 large tsp oregano
- ½ tsp chipotle chilli flakes
- Juice and zest of ½ lime
This recipe comes from Jules at The Plucky Pickle and is what we made at our fermentation workshop at Hulme Community Garden Centre! It's a dry salted vegetable ferment from South America using the natural water from the cabbage to create a brine.
Method
- Cut the cabbage into quarters. Save a few of the outer leaves. Cut the core out and chop the cabbage finely. GIve it a wash just to get off any mud and drain.
- Place your bowl on a digital scale and tare. Add the chopped cabbage, grated carrot, onion and spices/aromatics in a bowl and weigh the contents. Work out 2% of this weight for how much salt you need by multiplying the weight of the veg by 0.02 (e.g. 1650g x 0.02 = 33g salt).
- Add the salt as per above and massage it into the cabbage mix, distributing the salt evenly. Carry on doing this, squeezing the cabbage, until you see a brine forming.
- Add the lime zest and juice to your bowl and mix thoroughly. There should be around 2cm of brine formed at the bottom of the bowl.
- Pack the veggies tightly into your sterilised jar, a fist full at a time. Press down firmly on the cabbage mix until the brine rises to cover the veg, knocking out any air bubbles, and leave at least 1 inch headspace at the top.
- Take one of the whole cabbage leaves you saved at the start to form a lid. You can also put a weight on the top to keep the shredded veggies from floating to the top. Then seal the jar with its clip on lid.
Remember: everything under the brine and all will be fine!
- Set the jar of veg on a plate or bowl in plain sight in your kitchen space but out of direct sunlight and not near a cooker or radiator!
- The amount of brine will increase and bubbles will be visible after a day or two. If your ferment is getting particularly lively and leaking juices, gently ‘burp’ your jar to allow excess gases to escape by releasing the clip of the lid.
Don’t keep opening your jar up, as you don’t want oxygen to get in: Keep it anaerobic!
- Let it ferment for 7 days before you give it a taste. You can ferment it for 10-14 days, or longer if you like it more sour! Keep tasting it and put it in fridge when you’re happy that it’s got the right flavour for you (this slows fermentation right down). Enjoy as an accompaniment to all sorts of meals, on sandwiches or in salads.
Remember to look out for: temperature: taste, smell - if mold starts to grow remove the affected veggies, if it starts to smell off (not just a bit sour) oxygen may have gotten into the jar and you should start again.
- 1kg white cabbage (about 1 medium head)
- Sea salt (see the recipe for weight)
- 1-2 carrots, sliced or grated
- ½ red onion, sliced
- 1-2 garlic cloves, grated
- 1 large tsp oregano
- ½ tsp chipotle chilli flakes
- Juice and zest of ½ lime
This recipe comes from Jules at The Plucky Pickle and is what we made at our fermentation workshop at Hulme Community Garden Centre! It's a dry salted vegetable ferment from South America using the natural water from the cabbage to create a brine.
Method
- Cut the cabbage into quarters. Save a few of the outer leaves. Cut the core out and chop the cabbage finely. GIve it a wash just to get off any mud and drain.
- Place your bowl on a digital scale and tare. Add the chopped cabbage, grated carrot, onion and spices/aromatics in a bowl and weigh the contents. Work out 2% of this weight for how much salt you need by multiplying the weight of the veg by 0.02 (e.g. 1650g x 0.02 = 33g salt).
- Add the salt as per above and massage it into the cabbage mix, distributing the salt evenly. Carry on doing this, squeezing the cabbage, until you see a brine forming.
- Add the lime zest and juice to your bowl and mix thoroughly. There should be around 2cm of brine formed at the bottom of the bowl.
- Pack the veggies tightly into your sterilised jar, a fist full at a time. Press down firmly on the cabbage mix until the brine rises to cover the veg, knocking out any air bubbles, and leave at least 1 inch headspace at the top.
- Take one of the whole cabbage leaves you saved at the start to form a lid. You can also put a weight on the top to keep the shredded veggies from floating to the top. Then seal the jar with its clip on lid.
Remember: everything under the brine and all will be fine!
- Set the jar of veg on a plate or bowl in plain sight in your kitchen space but out of direct sunlight and not near a cooker or radiator!
- The amount of brine will increase and bubbles will be visible after a day or two. If your ferment is getting particularly lively and leaking juices, gently ‘burp’ your jar to allow excess gases to escape by releasing the clip of the lid.
Don’t keep opening your jar up, as you don’t want oxygen to get in: Keep it anaerobic!
- Let it ferment for 7 days before you give it a taste. You can ferment it for 10-14 days, or longer if you like it more sour! Keep tasting it and put it in fridge when you’re happy that it’s got the right flavour for you (this slows fermentation right down). Enjoy as an accompaniment to all sorts of meals, on sandwiches or in salads.
Remember to look out for: temperature: taste, smell - if mold starts to grow remove the affected veggies, if it starts to smell off (not just a bit sour) oxygen may have gotten into the jar and you should start again.
Newsletter Signup
Keep up to date with the food revolution! Receive regular grower and produce updates, and recipes and tips to make your meals more exciting, healthy and sustainable.
