Fermented / Cultured Veggies
Basic Sauerkraut
Ingredients
1 green cabbage
Healthy salt; pink (Himalayan) or grey (Celtic)
Peel off the most outer leaves of the cabbage.
Cut cabbage into quarters. Cut the stem from each quarter.
Slice the quarters in to very fine ribbons; you will appreciate this when it comes time to massage them. Place ribbons in a large bowl.
Sprinkle cabbage with salt; a large cabbage will require 2-3 tsp salt
After washing your hands, get them in there! Massage the ribbons with the salt until softened and water is streaming from the bottom; ~ 5-10 minutes
Transfer cabbage and liquid to a clean mason jar; large enough opening to insert your hand.
Compress contents with your fist until all cabbage is submerged.
Cover opening with cheese cloth and secure with elastic band or jar rim.
Set in a place out of direct light; eg. corner of kitchen counter
Twice daily, remove cheese cloth and compress cabbage with your fist (wash hand first). You should see bubbles rising to the top.
After 10 days, replace cheese cloth with full lid and store in fridge. You can store it here for several months.
Source: Rosanne Hartwick - Whole Food Diet Coach
Shelby’s Notes
Working smarter not harder: I now sprinkle the salt onto the cabbage, turn it over a couple times, then walk away. The salt will begin drawing water from the cabbage and in doing so soften it. 1 hour later I return to massage the leaf ribbons, which is now much easier due to the past hour of passive softening.
Dilly Carrots and Green Beans
2-3 sprigs fresh flowering dill
3-4 garlic cloves, chopped
4-5 carrots, cut into spears
1/4 lb green beans, ends trimmed
1 Tbsp sea salt
2 cups water, filtered
1 small cabbage leaf or boiled rock
Place the dill and garlic in bottom of a clean, wide-mouthed, 1 quart jar. Add the carrots and beans, making sure the ends stay 1" below the top of the jar.
Mix the salt and water together in a 2 cup liquid glass measuring cup and pour over the vegetables until they are submerged with at least 1/2" brine. Fold the small cabbage leaf and place it, or the boiled rock, on top and push it down to submerge the vegetables.
Cover the jar tightly with the lid and store in a dark place to ferment. It should take 5-10days, depending on the temperature of your house. The warmer it is, the shorter it takes to ferment. You can check them after 5 days; they should be sour and crispy. make sure to 'burp' the jar every day once start forming, usually by day 2. You can do this by slightly unscrewing the lid release the gases and then screwing it back down.
Once the vegetables have fermented to your liking, transfer the jar to the refrigerator and store up to 6 months.
Source: The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook, Alissa Segersten, Tom Malterre
Now that you are familiar with fermenting veggies, try using different ingredients, such as:
Greens: kale, collards
Veggies: onion, carrot, beet, daikon
Sea vegetables: dulse, wakame, hijiki, arame
Herbs: dill, caraway, juniper
