To begin what I aim to do here I had to get cabbage
As you can see, by the title, I'm going to talk to you about sauerkraut, and I have some fermenting as I type.
Yes, my writing is atrocious! You try writing with chalk on a wee label.
Back to the sauerkraut.
Sauerkraut is the perfect accompaniment with beer-braised brats or a Montreal smoked meat sandwich, and the homemade stuff is far, far superior to the stuff you buy in a store. Sauerkraut is often the first fermentation project people take on, as it's easy, requires very little special equipment, and the results are always delicious. All you need is shredded cabbage some salt and a crock or mason jar (I used two mason jars). The cabbage releases its own liquid, thus creating it's own brine. Leaving it submerged (very important step, which I'll speak about later) for several days or weeks, the cabbage will ferment into the crunchy and sour condiment, Sauerkraut.
The fermentation process is called lacto-fermentation which is when the bacteria (in this case Lactobacillus) converts the sugars in the cabbage into lactic acid; this is a natural preservative that stops the growth of harmful bacteria.
You might be wondering why we ferment Sauerkraut......well I can answer that. Besides preserving the cabbage it transforms it into something delicious and it gives the cabbage some extra health benefits i.e. fermented sauerkraut contains a lot of the same healthy probiotics as a bowl of yoghurt.
As you can see I have done a fairly small batch, which means that the minimum fermenting time is three days, although it will continue to ferment and become tastier for days and days after that. In terms of "doneness" the best way is to keep tasting until it tastes good to you. It will be safe to taste at every step.
The following is the recipe I used
Ingredients
1 medium head green cabbage
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon caraway seeds
1 tablespoon crushed chillies
Method
- Clean all utensils including the mason jar or jars
- Slice the cabbage: Discard the whilted, limp outer leaves. cut the cabbage into quarters and trim out the core. Slice each quarter down its length so you are left with 8 wedges. Now slice each, crosswise, into very thin slices
- Combine cabbage and salt by rubbing it in, in a large bowl. Add the cararway seeds and chillies and mix together.
- Pack the cabbage into the jar or jars. You will need to push the cabbage down every so often until the cabbage is submerged by its liquid.
- Put the lid on and leave to ferment, checking and tasting it as you go.
Well that's sauerkraut. I'll be back and let you know how it turns out.
Signing off
ThrashMetalChef
ThrashMetalChef
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