Recipe taken from, Do Ferment: Gut Boosters and Foods that Fizz by Nicola Cradock and Matthew Pennington

Kit: Clip-top jar or a pair of tessellating tubs
(Use a vessel that matches your cabbage weight — e.g. 1kg cabbage needs at least a 1L / 34fl oz jar.)

Ingredients:

    • White cabbage

    • Natural sea salt (2% of cabbage weight)

First, assess your cabbage. If it’s dense and heavy, it’s fresh and moist — ideal. If it feels dry or light, refresh it by soaking in a bowl of water for a few hours to help it rehydrate before slicing.
For the best texture, slice the cabbage as finely as possible — the thinner the cut, the juicier and crisper the finished kraut. A Japanese mandolin set to fine is ideal, but a Y-shaped peeler works surprisingly well. 

Quarter the cabbage, keeping the stem intact, and shred directly into a bowl set on scales. Slice any remaining pieces thinly with a knife and compost any woody core. Note the total cabbage weight to calculate your salt — close to 2% of its weight (for example, a 1.4kg cabbage will need about 28g sea salt).

Sprinkle the salt evenly through the cabbage. Within minutes, moisture will start to draw out and create the brine. Now roll up your sleeves and massage the cabbage firmly for about 5 minutes — really press, squeeze, and knead until it releases plenty of liquid. When pressed in your hands, a clump should drip with its own brine. Gather any stray pieces back into the bowl.

Check if the cabbage can submerge under its brine with a firm push of your hand. If so, you have enough liquid for a good fermenting environment. Over the next few hours, more brine will develop naturally as the salt continues its osmotic work.

Taste at this stage — it should be salty, perhaps a bit mustardy, from sulphur compounds reacting. The saltiness will mellow as fermentation produces lactic acid, giving balance and tang later.

Pack the sliced cabbage tightly into your chosen vessel.

    • If using tessellating tubs: flatten the surface, clean the sides, and weigh down with a lidded jam jar filled with water.

    • If using a jar: leave 2.5cm / 1 inch headspace for bubbling. 

Add fermenting weights if you have them, or cover with cling film to keep the cabbage submerged.

Set the vessel in a tray to catch any leaks. 

Over the next few days, check the temperature, watch for bubbles, and ensure the cabbage stays below the brine.

Spiced sauerkrauts

Now that you have made your first batch of sauerkraut, we encourage you, for your second sauerkraut batch, to experiment with adding a single spice: add 1 teaspoon per kilo of cabbage of either of the following tried-and-tested favourites: allspice, aniseed, celery seed, cardamom, caraway, coriander seed, cumin, fennel, juniper, lovage, mace, mustard, nigella seed, nutmeg, peppercorn, sumac.

Sauerkraut can be a canvas for so many flavour experiments. Blends of spice that are epic in sauerkraut include: black garlic and dulse (seaweed), cumin and dried apricot, nutmeg and saffron, coriander seed and orange zest. In essence, sauerkraut is fermented cabbage, but the lesser-starchy roots (carrots, beetroot, celeriac, daikon, parsnip, jicama, Jerusalem artichokes and swede) make happy additions to a cabbage ferment.  Sometimes, they are a little low in moisture to create enough brine from within, so keeping two-thirds of the weight as cabbage is a good
solution.  If you have a veg box, this can add a great route to using more of it.

Published by Do Books: https://thedobook.co/products/do-ferment-gut-boosters-and-foods-that-fizz?Format=Paperback