richard Show your gut microbiome you care by treating it to this delicious, fermented, delicious, living, delicious, probiotic, did I say delicious, sauerkraut.
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: None
Skill level: easy
Makes: 1 kg
Ingredients
- 1 medium cabbage – 1 kg
- sea salt – 2 tbsp
Remove and discard any tatty, yellowing or blemished outer leaves, then peel off the next two, wash and set aside.
Chop your cabbage into quarters and cut out and discard the stalky middle bit.
Slice the quarters as finely as you can.
Place is a large bowl and sprinkle with the salt.
Using your hands spend a few minutes repeatably crunching and firmly massaging the cabbage to break it down and release the cabbage juice.
Transfer to a one litre clean Kilner jar or similar and crush down with a suitable tool such as a pestle, the end of a rolling pin or fist. Pour in any remaining cabbage juice and continue to crush down until the cabbage is completely covered with liquid.
Cover with the reserved whole cabbage leaves and weigh down with whatever you can find in the kitchen so the cabbage remains submerged. I used a plastic pot filled with baking beans.
Close the lid but don’t seal as you want to allow any fermenting gasses to escape.
Put aside somewhere at room temperature and leave to ferment for a week or two. Check daily and push down the cabbage so it stays submerged.
Taste, and once it has reached your preferred level of sauerkrautness, store in the fridge.
Eat as a side, or add to a variety of delicious dishes, such as below.
Verdict: Crunchy, sour, not too salty and I believe I may have said it before, delicious. Should the fancy take you, you can make all manner of tasty things with your sauerkraut such as this Slovenian sauerkraut & bean stew, or these Slovakian potato pancakes.
Drink: Stay German and treat your gut microbiome to a crisp, refreshing Augustiner Helles.
Entertainment: Finally, spoil your gut microbiome rotten by binging on the excellent Belfast-based, police recruit drama, Blue Lights.
Links: YouTube is awash with sauerkraut making videos – we particularly liked this one.
