Sauerkraut

This recipe is adapted from "Nourishing Traditions" by Sally Fallon, which I recommend checking out. It's quite a thought-provoking book, sort of a cross between a nutrition textbook and a cookbook. And, best of all, there's a whole chapter on fermented vegetables and fruit.

To make sauerkraut, you'll need a large bowl, a grater, a potato masher or large wooden spoon, and a mason jar.

You'll also need the following ingredients:

half of a medium sized cabbage
one large carrot (optional)
3 tablespoons coarse salt
3 tablespoons whey (or substitute one tablespoon coarse salt)

Note that you can make whey by straining yogurt overnight. The liquid you collect is whey and can be stored in the fridge for six months.



1. Grate the cabbage and carrot into a large bowl (I used more carrot here since I ran out of cabbage).

2. Add the salt and whey. Mix well.

3. Mash for several minutes with the potato masher.



4. Let sit for thirty minutes, mashing occasionally. You should start to see juices collecting in the bowl.

5. Pack the cabbage and carrot into a mason jar one spoonful at a time. As you add the vegetables, pack them down so that there are no air pockets. Juice from the vegetables should ooze up to the top.

6. Stop filling the jar when you are 2 or 3 centimeters from the top. At this point there should be a layer of juices sitting on top of the packed vegetables.



7. Next you need something to keep the vegetables submerged under the layer of juices while they are fermenting. I use a ziploc bag that has been filled with a small amount of water and inserted into the jar so that the weight from the water holds the vegetables down and the juices come up around the sides of the bag. It's very important to make sure that no air is touching the packed vegetables, so push out any air bubbles you see. You probably also want to leave a little room between the top of the juices and the lid, or else the juices will ooze out during fermentation (which isn't bad, just messy).



8. Screw on the lid and put the jar in a bowl (to catch any leakage) in a warm, non-sunny place.

9. Then you wait for three days. You'll notice little bubbles forming around the vegetables after two days. By the third day there will be large air pockets forming in the jar and it will smell quite sour when you open the lid.

10. After the third day, remove the ziploc bag and transfer the sauerkraut to the fridge. It's ready to eat at this point, but tastes better if you wait at least a couple weeks.