Sauerkraut
Serves
4
·
30
mins
·
Intermediary
Ingredients
- Large white/green cabbage (1.5kg when cored)
- 33g Salt (or 2.2% of the weight of prepared cabbage)
- 1 tbsp carraway seeds or 10 juniper berries (optional)
A great introduction to the world of fermented food. With just 2 ingredients you can enjoy some delicious, funky flavours in as little as 4 days. The longer you leave it the more the sour flavour develops. Use your sauerkraut as a condiment to add some funky flavours to sandwiches, hotdogs and salads or as a side to cut through rich dishes like stews. It’s important you make sure you sterilise your fermentation container, use clean equipment and wash your hands while making this recipe. This stops any unwanted microbes from disrupting the work of the friendly lactobacillus bacteria responsible for fermentation.
Method
- Remove the tough outer leaves of the cabbage, reserving the largest for later. Cut the cabbage into quarters and remove the tough centre.
- Shred the cabbage into 1-2mm slices. You can use a very sharp knife, a mandolin, or a food processor with a slicer.
- Place the shredded cabbage in a large bowl with the salt. You’ll need to use salt equivalent to 2.2% of the weight of the prepared cabbage. To find this, simply multiply the weight of the shredded cabbage by 0.022, e.g. 1500g cabbage = 33g of salt.
- Mix the cabbage and salt by scrunching it together with your hands so you thoroughly cover the cabbage with the salt. It will start wilting almost immediately, but leave it for at least 2 hours. The cabbage should release a lot of moisture, creating a brine. If it doesn’t, have another go at scrunching the cabbage to encourage it to release more water.
- Once you have enough brine to cover the cabbage (you’ll need to press it down), decant the cabbage and brine into a sterilised 1.5l jar/fermenting pot. Press the cabbage down gently but firmly until it’s fully submerged (a narrower container helps with this). It needs to be really well compacted to ensure no oxygen’s in there. Leaving a 5cm gap at the top of your container will also allow for some expansion and prevent any overflows (the expansion is caused by CO2 released by the lactobacillus bacteria responsible for fermentation).
- Once compacted, put your reserved outer cabbage leaf on top of the cabbage and brine mix. You can use a glass weight or ziplock bag filled with water to weigh this down. The key is to ensure all of the shredded cabbage is submerged, this will stop any mould from forming.
- Once done, put the lid on your container and leave it at room temperature, away from direct sunlight and any radiators, for at least 4 days. After 1-2 days, when bubbles start forming in the brine, you’ll need to burp the container by slightly opening the lid to let out the gas the fermentation bacteria (lacto-basiclicus) are producing and stop any sauerkraut explosions.
- After 4 days, give the sauerkraut a taste to see how it’s getting on. If you’d like more of a sour, fermented flavour, leave it for longer, tasting regularly until it reaches a flavour you’re happy with (remember to make sure all the shredded cabbage is submerged after each tasting!). When you reach the desired flavour, put your sauerkraut in the fridge to slow fermentation right down.
- This method of lacto-fermentation using brine and anaerobic conditions can be used with all sorts of vegetables, like turnips, green beans and carrots and even cucumbers. A 2% brine is required for most vegetables. Never use less than 1% brine as this level of dilution will allow bacteria of the unfriendly kind to grow, and using too much will make your ferment indelibly salty.
Share
Last updated:
22
May
2024
Ingredients
- Large white/green cabbage (1.5kg when cored)
- 33g Salt (or 2.2% of the weight of prepared cabbage)
- 1 tbsp carraway seeds or 10 juniper berries (optional)
A great introduction to the world of fermented food. With just 2 ingredients you can enjoy some delicious, funky flavours in as little as 4 days. The longer you leave it the more the sour flavour develops. Use your sauerkraut as a condiment to add some funky flavours to sandwiches, hotdogs and salads or as a side to cut through rich dishes like stews. It’s important you make sure you sterilise your fermentation container, use clean equipment and wash your hands while making this recipe. This stops any unwanted microbes from disrupting the work of the friendly lactobacillus bacteria responsible for fermentation.
Method
- Remove the tough outer leaves of the cabbage, reserving the largest for later. Cut the cabbage into quarters and remove the tough centre.
- Shred the cabbage into 1-2mm slices. You can use a very sharp knife, a mandolin, or a food processor with a slicer.
- Place the shredded cabbage in a large bowl with the salt. You’ll need to use salt equivalent to 2.2% of the weight of the prepared cabbage. To find this, simply multiply the weight of the shredded cabbage by 0.022, e.g. 1500g cabbage = 33g of salt.
- Mix the cabbage and salt by scrunching it together with your hands so you thoroughly cover the cabbage with the salt. It will start wilting almost immediately, but leave it for at least 2 hours. The cabbage should release a lot of moisture, creating a brine. If it doesn’t, have another go at scrunching the cabbage to encourage it to release more water.
- Once you have enough brine to cover the cabbage (you’ll need to press it down), decant the cabbage and brine into a sterilised 1.5l jar/fermenting pot. Press the cabbage down gently but firmly until it’s fully submerged (a narrower container helps with this). It needs to be really well compacted to ensure no oxygen’s in there. Leaving a 5cm gap at the top of your container will also allow for some expansion and prevent any overflows (the expansion is caused by CO2 released by the lactobacillus bacteria responsible for fermentation).
- Once compacted, put your reserved outer cabbage leaf on top of the cabbage and brine mix. You can use a glass weight or ziplock bag filled with water to weigh this down. The key is to ensure all of the shredded cabbage is submerged, this will stop any mould from forming.
- Once done, put the lid on your container and leave it at room temperature, away from direct sunlight and any radiators, for at least 4 days. After 1-2 days, when bubbles start forming in the brine, you’ll need to burp the container by slightly opening the lid to let out the gas the fermentation bacteria (lacto-basiclicus) are producing and stop any sauerkraut explosions.
- After 4 days, give the sauerkraut a taste to see how it’s getting on. If you’d like more of a sour, fermented flavour, leave it for longer, tasting regularly until it reaches a flavour you’re happy with (remember to make sure all the shredded cabbage is submerged after each tasting!). When you reach the desired flavour, put your sauerkraut in the fridge to slow fermentation right down.
- This method of lacto-fermentation using brine and anaerobic conditions can be used with all sorts of vegetables, like turnips, green beans and carrots and even cucumbers. A 2% brine is required for most vegetables. Never use less than 1% brine as this level of dilution will allow bacteria of the unfriendly kind to grow, and using too much will make your ferment indelibly salty.
Share
Last updated:
22
May
2024
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