Sparkling Vegetables or Sauerkraut
If you can't poo or have digestive troubles. Well your gut might be to clean. Everything is starile today our gut needs micro organisms to function. Our ancestors lived on this stuff and we should too.
Beyond easy to make, extremely valuable for healing your gut and
it’s cheap. More strains of probiotic than the 50.00 per month probiotic you
are getting from the health food store. Convinced yet?
Fermenting. How does it work? The process is
called lacto-fermentation. On the surface of the cabbage there is beneficial
bacteria present. Lactobacillus is one
of the many bacteria’s found, it’s also present in yogurt as well as many other
fermented food products. For the food safety questions: When the cabbage is
submerged in brine the bacteria begins to convert the sugars to lactic acid, a
natural preservative inhibiting the growth of harmful bacteria.
Ingredients
1 medium head green or red cabbage (about 3 pounds)
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher/sea/Celtic/Himalayan salt (your choice)
1 tablespoons caraway seeds (optional, for flavor)
1 medium head green or red cabbage (about 3 pounds)
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher/sea/Celtic/Himalayan salt (your choice)
1 tablespoons caraway seeds (optional, for flavor)
Equipment
Cutting board
Chef's knife
Mixing bowl
1 liter wide mouth canning jar with canning lid
small bowl that the Mason jar will sit into.
Cutting board
Chef's knife
Mixing bowl
1 liter wide mouth canning jar with canning lid
small bowl that the Mason jar will sit into.
Instructions
1. Make sure your Mason jar and lid are
washed and rinsed of all soap residue. Make sure your hands are really clean. You'll
be using your hands to massage the salt into the cabbage.
2. Discard any limp outer leaves of the
cabbage. Keep the first good leaf by pealing it off and placing it aside.
Trim out the core and cut into quarters. Slice each quarter down its length,
making 8 wedges. Slice each wedge crosswise into thin ribbons.
3. Transfer the cut cabbage to a big
mixing bowl and sprinkle the salt over top. Begin working the salt into the
cabbage by massaging and squeezing the cabbage with your hands. At first, it
may not seem like enough salt, but gradually; the cabbage will become watery
and limp. This will take 5 to 10 minutes. Let your cabbage sit for an hour
covered. Then massage again. If you'd like to flavor your sauerkraut with
caraway seeds, mix them in now.
4. Put your
Mason jar next to the bowl with the cabbage in it. Put handfuls of the cabbage into the
Mason jar and pack it down tight. If you have a canning funnel, this will make
the job easier. Pour any liquid released by the cabbage while you were
massaging it into the jar. The cabbage should be covered with liquid.
Get the outer leaf that you put aside and fold it till it fits into the mouth of the jar. Place over the surface of the sliced cabbage. This will help keep the cabbage submerged in its liquid.
Get the outer leaf that you put aside and fold it till it fits into the mouth of the jar. Place over the surface of the sliced cabbage. This will help keep the cabbage submerged in its liquid.
5. Cover the mouth of the mason jar with
Mason jar lid. Keep a little loose as the fermentation process may kick some of
the liquid out of the jar.
6. If after 24 hours, the liquid has not
risen above the cabbage, dissolve 1 teaspoon of salt in 1 cup of water and add
enough to submerge the cabbage.
7. Ferment the cabbage for 3 to 10
days: As it's fermenting, keep the sauerkraut away from direct
sunlight and at a cool room temperature — ideally 65°F to 75°F. Check it daily
and press it down if the cabbage is floating above the liquid.
8. Now that you have made your first jar
of sparkling vegetables, start planning to go crazy by adding carrots, ginger,
garlic, sea vegetables. The sky is the limit, have fun.
Because this is a small batch of sauerkraut, it will ferment more quickly than larger batches. Start tasting it after 3 days — when the sauerkraut tastes good to you. Screw on the lid and refrigerate. There's no hard and fast rule for when the sauerkraut is "done" — go by how it tastes.
While it's fermenting, you may see bubbles coming through the cabbage, foam on the top, or white scum. These are all signs of a healthy, happy fermentation process. The scum can be skimmed off the top either during fermentation or before refrigerating. If you see any mold, skim it off immediately and make sure your cabbage is fully submerged; don't eat moldy parts close to the surface, but the rest of the sauerkraut is fine.
Because this is a small batch of sauerkraut, it will ferment more quickly than larger batches. Start tasting it after 3 days — when the sauerkraut tastes good to you. Screw on the lid and refrigerate. There's no hard and fast rule for when the sauerkraut is "done" — go by how it tastes.
While it's fermenting, you may see bubbles coming through the cabbage, foam on the top, or white scum. These are all signs of a healthy, happy fermentation process. The scum can be skimmed off the top either during fermentation or before refrigerating. If you see any mold, skim it off immediately and make sure your cabbage is fully submerged; don't eat moldy parts close to the surface, but the rest of the sauerkraut is fine.
