Another microbiology project in my kitchen. This time, I made sauerkraut. It was surprisingly easy. Easier than kimchee. I love kimchee but it’s more involved, so after a few rounds of it, I stopped doing it. Then I went on to kombucha which is super easy. And now, I introduce to you, red cabbage sauerkraut!

• Sea salt
• Filtered water
• 1 head of red cabbage
• 1 red onion – Optional
• 6 or so cloves of garlic – Optional
• 3 carrots – Optional

I chopped and rinsed the cabbage.

Chopped the onions

Flattened the garlic cloves a little (just to break them)

Cut the carrots into sticks.

 

Massage the cabbage in 1 tablespoon of sea salt.  Crush it a little as you work the salt in.  You can let it sit out after massaging it to see if you can get some water out of that.  I was too impatient.  I just packed it all in the jars and added extra salt water to cover up all the vegetables.  Don’t oversalt or it’ll taste too salty.  Leave it in a dark place covered with a paper towel or something and then let it ferment.  I thought it would take weeks but one week was enough for me to smell the sourness.  The top layer started to get moldy because it floated above the water.  I just scooped it out.  The stuff in the brine is perfectly fine and it tastes tangy and delicious.  Then after a week, when it smelled sour, and I took care of the moldy pieces, I put the lids on and refrigerated them.  They are very crunchy and delicious and bright pink!!

So next time you get yourself a head of cabbage and aren’t sure what to do with it, ferment it.  It’s easy to make and very easy to eat.  I just ate a bowl of it by itself just now.