Minimising food waste is a big topic these days! This ferment is a fun and quirky way to use up any leftover bits of vegetable that you may have lurking in the bottom of your vegetable drawer in your fridge. It’s a great way to use up leftover veg, it will save you money…AND you get a different flavoured, delicious sauerkraut every time!
This is a very loose and free-flowing recipe! Use what you like to create something unique and delicious!
This blog post is inspired by the fact that I am a guest presenter at the Hastings Sustainability Showcase in Port Macquarie this weekend. If you are in the area, come along and say hi!
INGREDIENTS (Makes a bit over One Litre)
500g- 1kg green cabbage (approx. half a cabbage), chopped
Whatever left-over vegetables you may have lying around in the bottom of the veggie drawer in your fridge! You may like to add vegetables such as; carrots, beetroot, onion, shallots, chilli, capsicum (peppers), fennel, kale, radishes, lemon or lime zest, cauliflower, broccoli and more!
Chop or grate whatever vegetables you have leftover, and add them to your bowl with your cabbage.
20g (four teaspoons) of salt
EQUIPMENT
Large bowl
1 Litre clean glass jar
PROCESS
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.
Massage your cabbage with your hands or pound with a rolling pin or purpose-made “sauerkraut pounder” until you can squeeze liquid out of your cabbage. This should take around three to five minutes.
Tightly pack your cabbage mix into your glass jar, regularly pushing it down with your fist, sauerkraut pounder or a rolling pin. Continue to fill your jar, leaving about 2cm (1 inch) from the top, so that the vegetables can expand. Again, push the cabbage mix down so that the vegetables are fully submerged by the liquid brine. Add any additional liquid left over from your bowl. Place lid on your jar.
To allow your cabbage to ferment, leave it on your kitchen bench or in a cupboard or pantry for 1 to 4 weeks (longer if you wish). You may wish to place a tray with a paper towel under your jar, to catch any liquid that may spill out, should that occur. Fermentation time will vary according to the seasons and your climate. Bubbles, hisses, fizzes and leaking liquid are normal and are an indication of a live, probiotic-rich kraut, although they are not necessary. Open your jar every couple of days to push any expanding vegetables back below the liquid brine with a clean spoon.
Any white yeast that forms on top is known as “kahm yeast” and can be simply scraped off.
Taste your kraut. When it reaches a flavour that you enjoy, you may transfer it to the fridge where it will last many months (at least 3 months, possibly much longer).
Enjoy!
Sammi xx