First posted on STP; Val suggested — and she’s right, naturlich — that this needs to be added here as the start of the ferment journey. The next item is due to be started later today — a fermented pepper hot sauce. That’ll get its own post; in the meantime, here’s the sauerkraut:
This is my recreation of the commercial sauerkraut that Val particularly likes
I’m hoping that this will come reasonably close in the taste stakes.
Ingredients
Cabbage (after prep) 500g
Pineapple (after prep) 500g
Spring onions x 2 approx. 60g
Fresh ginger (skin on) 50g
½ x Tbsp of:
Fenugreek seeds
Mustard seeds
1 x Tbsp of:
Turmeric powder
Nigella seeds
Cumin seeds
Fennel seeds
Salt: you need 2% by weight of the cabbage plus other vegetables and/or fruit used, in total; in this case 1.1kg e.g. 22 g. of salt. I used kosher, as it’s finer and I find it mixes in more easily, but sea-salt is also OK. Just don’t use salt with an anti-caking agent added, it’s not a friend for the bacteria.
Preparation:
Ensure you start with a clean work-surface, mixing bowl, knives etc plus, importantly a sterilised storage container or jar. I’m using a Kilner (or Mason) jar with sealable lid. Simply put in the sink, pour boiling water over it all and allow it to dry. The aim is to ensure the maximum number of good bacteria and the minimum of bad
Trim the cabbage, reserving some of the thick outer leaves for later. Cut out the main hard core parts. Shred it reasonably finely. Mix in the salt, turning the cabbage by hand to ensure that it coats evenly, squeezing gently to slightly macerate it. Set aside in a clean bowl for 4-5 hours until there’s a lot of juice released by this osmotic magic. You’ll see the cabbage start to glisten with water almost before you’ve finished rubbing in the salt
Similarly clean the pineapple of its outer hard skin, remove most of the tough inner core and cut into small, bite-sized chunks, not too small or you run the risk of it getting too mushy during the ferment process.
Clean and finely slice the spring onions, finely slice the ginger keeping the skin on (as that has lots of good bacteria on it) and add to the mix.
Then add the rest of the various spices to the pineapple and mix everything together with all the other ingredients
lovingly melding them into a homogeneous mass
Place everything — now that it’s all married together in a mixed union of perfect harmony — into your chosen fermentation vessel, leaving an inch or two of head room below the rim. Press down on the mixture until the liquid comes above all the solids and then place the (earlier reserved) cabbage outer leaves* over the top as a further seal. If you find you don’t have quite enough liquid, you can simply add enough of a 2% salt brine to ensure it’s fully covered (and you also can top it up over the course of the ferment — if needed — with the same new brine).
* [the leaves can be eaten later, I’m told]
Use a weight such as a plate or fermenting glass weights or, as I’m doing here, a bag of marbles, atop two glass weights to hold the mixture down under the liquid. Close the lid. Use an airlock if you choose this approach. Or as here, use a fermentation jar with an air-tight seal lid that helps push down on the solids whilst also keeping out the air in this anaerobic process. To keep the surface clean of any spills or overflows, put a plate under your jar or container to catch any over-eager juices.
Place somewhere cool-ish to start with, not too warm — to give the bacteria some time to begin their work — and out of direct sunlight. A shaded shelf is ideal or an inner room.
The ideal range? This is from Penn State University:
Store the container at 70°–75°F (21°–23°C) while fermenting. At these temperatures, sauerkraut will be fully fermented in about three to four weeks; at 60°–65°F (15°–18°C), fermentation may take six weeks. Below 60°F (15°C), sauerkraut may not ferment. Above 80°F (26°C), sauerkraut may become soft and spoil.
Ongoing:
For the first 2 weeks, I’ll check it regularly, making sure it smells clean rather than giving off a yeasty or mouldy aroma and I’ll ‘burp’ the jar occasionally to allow the outflow gases to escape whilst looking to make sure that it’s all still “under water” as the fermentation activity can generate a lot of gas which can push the cabbage and brine up and out of the container.
[And, in an abundance of caution, if you decide to make this recipe, you may want to toss any resulting ferments with a black, pink, or orange mould that starts to grow on them. It probably won’t kill you but…]
Then I need to let the sauerkraut further mature and ferment for a minimum 4-6 weeks, in a cooler, darker spot in the house, before, finally digging in and eating. Sauerkrauts that are fermented for less than 4 weeks don’t taste very good but I’ll be testing along the way. My preference is to see how it does after 2 months but once the sauerkraut reaches your desired taste, you can move them to cold storage such as the fridge (or pantry or cellar if you happen to live in a mansion) where it will continue to develop more complex flavours.
The longer they age, the better they taste in my view and, I’m assured that, properly fermented, will last for years.
I’ll document this last stage in separate posts. Not too often mind, not every day, there’s only so many “cabbage bubbling” pictures that even the most ardent fermenter can handle…