Pink Sauerkraut
Ooh, Really?!
I hadn’t made a sauerkraut for a while. Cabbage, fermented on it’s own with salt, is beyond delicious.
But I figured it would be an idea to throw a few more vegetables into a jar for the start of winter, to enjoy some variety. And why jolly not?!
When I first started fermenting, I followed a recipe that included slices of orange, but I’m afraid it didn’t hit the spot. Too fruity and sweet. For me, sauerkraut is better without too much fuss and ummm … well … no fruit!
Here’s my latest version of a savoury sauerkraut that turns a beautiful shade of pink; the fermented water taking on the hue of the pink cabbage. Oooh, lovely!
And don’t forget that this will be giving you a lovely dollop of nature’s own friendly bacteria as well. You know, those cheeky little babies called probiotics.
Probiotics help build your immune system and fight any bad bacteria that may have dared to set up home in your ‘gut’ .. which is where 85 % of our immune system lives. Our gut is like our immune HQ.
Don’t fancy colds, viruses, infections, bugs? Try this recipe for starters and add to it a daily drink of kefir.
Sauerkraut. One part of your daily intake of probiotics. Just in time for winter. HOW dudey?!
Gather Your Goodies
1 White Smooth Cabbage
1 Red Cabbage
2 Large Cucumbers
6 Peppers
1 Bunch Celery
Pink Himalayan Salt or Sea Salt (NOT TABLE SALTTTT! – Yes, I did do a screechy/yell-type thing just there. Table salt just ain’t the ticket. We don’t need that in our kitchens. No, really. Ditch the table salt. You’ll be doing yourself a super dooper favour.)
Read more about ‘why’ right here:
http://healthwyze.org/index.php/component/content/article/115-the-truth-about-table-salt-and-the-chemical-industry.html
It’s Action Time!
- Slice or shred your vegetables into fairly thin strips. Cut the cucumbers into medium width ‘julienne’ strips. (Ignore me. I’m just using a fancy name for cutting veg into thin sticks. Gosh, I can be SO annoying. 😉
- Keep a few large cabbage leaves back.
- Take the total weight of your vegetables and add 2% salt. Use less if you prefer. 2% does turn out reasonably salty, so 1% may be a good place to start. Just work to your own taste. Salt slows down the fermenting process and keeps a crunch to the skin of your vegetables. Too good.
- Mix the salt thoroughly into the vegetables with your hands, then either bruise the veg with the flat end of a rolling-pin (or similar) in a washing up bowl (clean – and new, preferably!) or start to layer the veg into your jar and bruise it as you add each layer.
- The ‘bruising’ is to break down the vegetable, allowing the salt to draw the juices more easily. You can test this by simply bruising them in a large bowl first and allowing the veg to then sit for an hour. When you return you’ll find they’re sitting in a good deal more of their own juice. Good, huh?!
- Whichever way you choose to prepare your vegetables for the fermenting jar, keep pushing them down with the rolling-pin into the jar. You want them to be tightly packed.
- The juices will keep releasing from the veg as you bruise them and, if you do your job well, should cover the entire contents of the jar by time you reach the neck.
- If you’re slightly short of moisture, you can add filtered/mineral water to top it up. This will be mostly needed if you’re using a majority of dry veg such as cabbage and onions. As soon as you add wetter vegetables: peppers, cucumbers, celery etc they will produce plenty of vegetable water for your ferment.
- Another idea (it’s fun to ring the changes and it’s an alternative to using mineral water, if you don’t have any to hand) is to simply juice a few of your vegetables in a juicer and use that clear juice to top up your jar.
- Finally, use your spare cabbage leaves to layer on top of the vegetables in each jar. Tuck them in neatly. This will keep your fermented food submerged in water and prevent them drying out or moulding.
- It’s unlikely that you’ll create mould unless you neglect your ferment, but if you did see any, throw your ferment away. A white film on top of the ferment is safe, can be removed and your food can continue to ferment and be eaten. White sludge on the bottom of your vessel is a type of yeast and tends to settle. This is also safe, although you wouldn’t want to be eating it if you can avoid it. If this is accompanied by a slime that coats the food, even slightly, throw your ferment away. ANYTHING other than these two situations, ie pink mould, creamy films, grey/black mould, an unpleasant odour (you’ll know!), cabbage discolouring (it tends to turn brown) and of course, the slime I mentioned previously, are non negotiable. Your ferment must be thrown.
- You can top up with mineral/filtered water during the fermentation process if any leakage from the jar occurs.
- Your veg will be fermenting after a few hours.
- Leave in a place that’s not in direct sunlight. A worktop is great. Somewhere out of your way.
- Temperature should be anywhere from 68-75 degrees Fahrenheit, not more than 85 degrees. The warmer the room, the faster your food will ferment. So keep an eye on it and don’t worry too much about the ambient temperature!
- Taste them daily. They’re great after 3 days, better after around 7 and will often keep for months in the fridge – that’s if you don’t eat them fast enough. 😉 I tasted these after 3 days, but then decided to leave them until day 8 or 9 and they were even better!
Here’s a little video that shows the jars, the types of lid I use .. and me doing a taste test (slurp slurp!) for this sauerkraut .. and also the kimchi recipe I’ll post soon.
Fare thee well until demain.
But pleeeease. Don’t write to me to tell me you buy your kraut from a store .. or I’m going to have to start smacking naughty little cyber hands! Just go buy the veg, chop, bruise and pack it into a jar. I mean, HOW long does it take? Not very. 😉
I’m looking forward to seeing the photo of your first kraut!
