Basic Fermented Sauerkraut

Are you thinking: This sauerkraut recipe is not chicken or egg based, so why is it here?! You don’t grow and sell cabbages!

Great question!

I’ve included a kraut recipe here because:

1. fermented foods help us digest other foods especially meat (including chicken!),

2. it’s super easy,

3. every traditional culture has a signature fermented food, and

4. now’s the time of year to make this condiment, in season!

This natural fermentation of vegetables using a salty brine instead of vinegar creates lactic acid which preserves food.

And it’s much better for your digestive system than vinegar-based preserved vegetables. And way less time intensive than canning vegetables.

I’ve enjoyed making this for the last 15 years, so let’s get started with making your own all natural probiotic for your family!

Thanks to Nourishing Traditions cookbook for the basis of this classic recipe!

Prep Time: 25 minutes Ferment Time: 2 or more days

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 medium organic cabbage

• 2 tablespoons sea salt

• 1 cup nonchlorinated water (if you only have chlorinated town/city water available, set water out on the counter, uncovered for 24 hours so the chlorine evaporates)

EQUIPMENT:

• quart sized glass jar with lid (washed in warm soapy water and completely dried)

• sharp knife

• cutting board

• wooden pounder (or meat pounder or ice cream scoop)

• big mixing bowl

DIRECTIONS:

1. Remove outer leaf of cabbage and set aside for later.

2. Finely chop the rest of the cabbage.

3. Add one quarter of cabbage to bowl plus half tablespoon salt. Repeat with the three other cabbage quarters. Mix well to distribute salt.

4. Then pound cabbage with pounder until all cabbage leaves are softened and there’s a good bit of cabbage juice, about 8 minutes.

5. Add all shredded cabbage mixture to the jar, while pressing it down, and shove the whole cabbage leaf on top. Make sure there is 2 inches of space at the top for fermentation to expand the cabbage mixture. If there isn’t enough cabbage juice to keep pounded cabbage and leaf submurged under liquid, then add enough filtered water to the brine.

6. Screw lid on jar, and keep on counter for at least 2 days (longer if your house is cooler than 70 degrees). Each day, open jar and submurge cabbage leaf and mixture under liquid with a fork. When the cabbage is soft enough for your liking, after 2 or more days, store on the top shelf of the frig for up to one year.

7. Consume daily for a happy gut, especially along with meat.

Tip 1: My favorite is to use a purple cabbage for adding easy color to any dish. We add it to salads, on sandwiches, and on dinner plates.

Tip 2: The vegetables used should be organic so that fermentation happens properly. You can also add raw garlic, onion, radish, carrot, hot pepper.

Tip 3: I use this same basic salt to volume ratio for fermenting jalepeno peppers and watermelon rinds, without the pounding.

Tip 4: If you don’t have a quart size jar, use a couple smaller glass jars with lids, like spaghetti sauce or jam jars.

Tip 5: If your kids won’t eat the ferment, add some of the kraut juice to their flavored water or smoothie.

Tip 6: For lower sodium, replace 1 Tablespoon salt with 4 Tablespoons whey (liquid part of plain, not Greek style, yogurt).