Tasty Bytes

The last two weeks we’ve gotten a head of cabbage in our CSA box. I’ve been wanting to make sauerkraut for awhile but after two rather odiferous attempts I was wary. I’d been making kim chee with much success but the Euro version was not working for me.

First I tried Sally Fallon’s trick of putting a few tablespoons of yogurt whey in with the cabbage. Made sense in that sauerkraut is made from a lactic acid fermentation of cabbage as with milk to yogurt. Result…uh, not very appetizing…the sauerkraut was sour but the cabbage turned to mush. The lactic acid needed for yogurt must not be the same as that for sauerkraut. I tried again with just salt but it stank up the house and got moldy…tossed it.

Last week the CSA came with a beautiful head of Savoy cabbage – this is a yellowish/green cabbage with crinkled leaves, a sweeter variety than the typical smooth leaf cabbage. I decided to ‘kraut’ this head on Saturday. But before I tackled the cabbage I ventured out to the Berkeley Farmer’s Market to pick up a case of Bariani olive oil. While I was there, I decided to purchase a jar of sauerkraut from Cultured. Why? I figured I could use some of the brine from this ‘live’ sauerkraut as a starter for mine.

I now was very confident this attempt at sauerkraut would finally be successful. First I sliced up the cabbage very thinly with my Japanese mandolin, the Benriner. Next I tossed the cabbage with sea salt, a splash of the Cultured sauerkraut brine and just for kicks I added a teaspoon and a half of grated ginger. I then used a big wooden spoon to pack the cabbage into the removable ceramic crock of my 4 quart crock pot. This part was fun – you just smash the cabbage until it releases it’s juice. Once the cabbage was densely packed I weighed down the cabbage so it was totally submerged in the resultant brine with a stack of 6 plates. I covered the crock loosely with some plastic wrap to keep out the bad bugs and put on the glass lid. Now I had to wait.

Sidebar: Hardcore fermenters out there would use the Harsch fermentation crock – the Mercedes Benz of pickling crocks. If you don’t have a Harsch or a crock, a large jar will work too.

Everyday I took a sniff. After a few days I could see bubbles forming on the surface and smell the telltale signs of fermentation. Yesterday (after 7 days), I finally got my first taste. Success! Nicely sour but not overly so, a hint of sweetness (those Terra Firma farmers sure know how to grow a sweet head of cabbage), not as salty as Cultured’s (which I found to be alittle too salty for my tastes) and very crispy :)! The ginger (which was really P’s idea ) added a nice kick. We’ll be enjoying a bite of this kraut with each meal.

Sauerkraut is a very healthy food after all. Full of vitamin C it helped prevent scurvy way back in the seafaring days. Not only that, but sauerkraut is a great source of vitamin K – important for blood clotting, bone formation and repair. Wow, and it’s also chockful of beneficial bacteria that your intestines would love to have move in. Especially if you’ve recently had to undergo a round of antibiotic therapy. After the Korean study suggesting that Kim Chee, sauerkraut’s cousin from the far east, prevented bird flu, a recent report by ABC news headlined “Is Sauerkraut the Next Chicken Soup?” I don’t know for sure but to get the full health benefits make sure what you are eating is unpasteurized and contains live cultures.

Here’s the recipe I used:

* Exported from MasterCook *

Sauerkraut

Amount Measure Ingredient — Preparation Method
——– ———— ——————————–
2 1/2 pounds cabbage
1 ounce sea salt

Make sure everything is clean. Remove all rings from fingers and wash hands well.

Shred the cabbage using a mandolin or thinly slice with a knife into a large bowl. Toss the cabbage with the sea salt and mix well. Using a wooden spoon or potato masher, pack the cabbage into a crock or large jar. Don’t be shy – put some elbow into it so the cabbage starts to let out it’s juices – you know back in the day when folks would put up 1000+ pounds of sauerkraut at a time they would just jump into the barrel with feet bare and stomp away – not just good for grapes, eh? Just so you know, none of my piggly wigglies took part in this recipe.

Ok, back to the recipe…Weigh down the cabbage with a number of plates or follow instructions if using the Harsch fermenting crock. Make sure there is enough brine to cover the cabbage. If you need more brine you can dissolve 1 T of sea salt with 2 cups of water. Cover with a lid (a plate works) or loosely with plastic and set in a cool dark place to ferment. If the weather is cool (65-68F), the sauerkraut should be ready in 5 to 7 days. Fermentation will be quicker if it is warmer. You can taste beginning after a few days and refrigerate as soon as the sauerkraut is as sour as you like.

Notes: 1 ounce of sea salt = approx. 1 1/2 Tablespoons. For different size batches multiply the number of pounds of cabbage by 0.4 oz or 0.6 Tablespoons to determine how much salt to add.

Variations: add a teaspoon or two of grated ginger or juniper berries or caraway seeds or cloves of garlic or chile flakes or dill… Use red cabbage or a mix of red and green. Replace some of cabbage by weight with a few grated beets or fennel bulb.

Yield:
“1 1/2 quarts”

I’m on a roll…made another batch today with half and half red and green cabbage along with some grated ginger.

Give it a try and make your tummy happy 🙂