And as always, we strive every day to eat good, healthy, clean food with each other and in the company of friends and family. Looking back at Veggie Sutra archives from a year back, we were deep in to the fermentation series and did a post on making a South Indian-style fermented lemon pickle, which turned out to be very popular. This year, we go to another part of the world for a fermented staple, sauerkraut!
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| Multi-colored sauerkraut |
I had limited success with sauerkraut in the beginning, but since then have mastered making basic sauerkraut both with red and green cabbage.
But first – what is sauerkraut and why? Sauerkraut is basically fermented cabbage. Fermented foods offer rich probiotic enzymes which are beneficial to our digestive system. Fermenting also makes nutrients more bio-available to the body. The Wikipedia article on sauerkraut has a long list of other scientifically-proven benefits.
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| Sauerkraut with black peppers |
So, here is the recipe for basic sauerkraut with some interesting variations at the end. The basic steps outlined in the post on making lemon pickle still apply. To recap from the post on lemon pickle: In its simplest form, fermenting vegetables just involves submerging vegetables in salty liquid and leaving it alone to let the wild bacteria do its work. Sandor Katz, in his excellent book The Art of Fermentation, which is regarded as the bible of fermented foods, lists the following steps:
- Chop or grate vegetables
- Salt the vegetables (and squeeze with clean hands for some vegetables to release liquid)
- Pack the vegetables in a jar tightly
- Wait
- 1 medium green cabbage and 1 medium red cabbage, washed and dried (I had around 4.5 lbs total)
- 3 Tbsp kosher salt
- 1 Tbsp whole black peppers (optional)
- 1 tsp turmeric powder (optional)
- 2 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
- 2 Wide Mouth Ball Jar, 32-Ounce. I used 2 40 oz jars that I specifically purchased for making sauerkraut. Alternately you can use a crock with lid or ceramic jar with lid
- Sharp 10″ chef knife and clean cutting board
- 2 Pyrex glass mixing bowls
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| Massage salt in to the cabbage until limp and juicy |
- Save a couple of the outer leaves of the cabbage, and shred the remaining cabbage using a sharp chef’s knife in to fine strips
- Store the red and green cabbage separately
- Take about half the green cabbage in one large pyrex bowl, add 3/4 Tbsp salt and massage with hands for 5-10 minutes (depending on how tender your cabbage is) until cabbage is limp and has released a lot of briny liquid
- Do the same with the red cabbage in another bowl. Red cabbage tends to be crisper than green cabbage and may need more massaging up to 15 mins
- Layer the red and green cabbage in to one jar tamping down with your fist or with a flat spoon or potato masher as you go. The salty brine should start submerging the cabbage
- When you have reached within the top 1 inch of the bottle, stop and use the saved outer leaf to cover the top and press down
- Repeat with the other jar
- Weigh the cabbage down with a smaller bottle that will fit in the mouth so the liquid covers up to the top of the bottle, or just keep pressing down every day until the cabbage is fully submerged in the liquid
- After 2 weeks, do a quick taste test and refrigerate if it has fermented to your liking. If not allow it to ferment some more. Sauerkraut should be sour, pungent and very crisp.
- Black Pepper: Use a mortar and pestle to coarsely crush around 1 Tbsp of whole black peppers. After each layer of cabbage, sprinkle some crushed black peppers. Allow it to ferment. We love the peppery taste combined with the sour taste
- Turmeric and red pepper flakes: After massaging each batch of cabbage with salt, add about 1/4th tsp of turmeric and 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes and mix. Then follow steps above to layer in to glass jars. Allow it to ferment. I am trying out turmeric for the first time and am not sure if the antibacterial properties of turmeric will prevent lacto-fermentation, but V says the bacterial will always win in the end! Will keep you guys posted!
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| Turmeric sauerkraut |