Sauerkraut

Love it or hate it, sauerkraut is a traditional food eaten in many cultures with a huge history as well as having some amazing benefits! Here is a link to an article Healthline wrote on Sauerkraut summarizing some of those details. This traditional food, while readily available in my local supermarket (both canned-having lost its gut health benefits in the canning process, and raw-still retaining those benefits) nevertheless it is worth making at home because: 1) it is an easy process. 2) it is cheaper. 3) making it yourself you can control which types of ingredients you use including the quality of the salt used in making it 4) grocery stores today practice what is known as “just in time” marketing, thereby grocery store raw sauerkraut spoils quickly, where as home made last for months, as it was intended to be.

INGREDIENTS:

1 head of cabbage
Real Salt

METHOD:

1. Begin by removing and reserving any tough outter leaves.
2. Wash the reserved outer leaves.
3. Core the cabbage.
4. Wash it well under running water to remove any dirt.
5. Using a knife and cutting board, a food processor, or a grater, process the cabbage to make thin strips of cabbage. Use a scale to measure the prepped cabbage.
6. Place in a bowl. Sprinkle 1-2 tsp of real salt over the cabbage per pound of cabbage. Massage the cabbage and salt for about 5 minutes until the cabbage has the salt well mixed into it and begins to weep out moisture.
7. Place all of the cabbage and the juice you’ve messaged out into a 1 quart canning jar (wide mouth works best but a regular jar works too if you are careful.
8. Pack down the cabbage into the jar so it is well compacted into the jar.
9. Cut or place the top leaf we reserved over the entire jar ensuring the cabbage stays submerged in the juice.
10. If needed add 1 cup of water with 1 tsp of salt added to it and use this brine to cover the cabbage in water.
11. Lightly cover the jar so gasses can escape.
12. Allow to rest for 7 days. Toss away the top hard outer leaf which was holding the cabbage under the water. Enjoy!

Day 2 of fermenting after processing

NOTES:

• There are various recipes online for various add ins to this basic recipe.
• The size of the cabbage you use can vary the sweetness versus sourness of the final recipe.
• Suggested Serving: heating sauerkraut can make some of the gut health benefits diminish. Nevertheless there are many recipes and traditions for soup, sandwiches, even vegan cheeses and pizza made with sauerkraut so I won’t bother mentioning those. Instead how about as a salad dressing? If you live an egg-free life due to allergies, raw sauerkraut makes an excellent salad dressing/mayo replacement. Here is an example.

Kale, Spinach, Mackerel, Kalamata Olives, Celery, Brazil Nuts,band Raw Sauerkraut salad.