Simple Sauerkraut Recipe - Enhancing Your Health with Fermented Foods (2024)

Simple Sauerkraut Recipe -Enhancing Your Health with Fermented Foods

9/11/2016

Tangy and delicious, homemade Sauerkraut is a living probiotic food that has remarkable healing properties.The natural

lacto-fermentationprocess

preserves the food and nutrients, breaks the food down to a more digestible form, increases the nutrient profile, and offers an array of probiotics that are formed in the fermentation process. The main by product, lactic acid, not only keeps vegetables and fruits in a state of perfect preservation but also promotes the growth of healthy flora throughout the intestine...

Probiotics are ‘friendly bacteria’ or literally translated as life giving bacteria. The balance of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ bacteria in your gut is becoming more widely recognized for it’s integral role in your well-being. An estimated 80% of your immune system is housed in your gut. As a robust immune system is your top defense against all disease it’s not surprising that there’s a growing body of work from experts in the field detailing the critical connection between the healthy functioning of your digestive system and a general health.

Fermented foods are yet another example of traditional wisdom. An ancient practice, Cultures around the world have traditionally included lacto-fermented foods in their diets. However at some point in the convenience seeking modern day era the importance of fermented foods seemed to be lost and as a result is missing from many modern day diets.

With the health benefits of probiotic foods becoming more widely known, there’s a resurgence of availability of fermented foods. When buying Sauerkraut it is imperative that it is raw as beneficial bacteria are destroyed during heat processing losing its goodness! Making sauerkraut is a relatively straightforward process that doesn’t require much hands-on-time, it’s also a lot cheaper than most high quality for sale brands so why not give it a go.

The lovely Miro from Ferment for Life has shared a basic Sauerkraut recipe with us. Miro supplies the beautiful traditionally used fermentation pots to New Zealand. While it’s possible to make sauerkraut without a traditional pot, the unique design of this stoneware creates an air-tight interior while allowing the CO2 gas that’s released during fermentation to escape. This creates the ideal environment for a successful batch of delicious sauerkraut.

So with the help of Miro’s simple Sauerkraut recipe and one of his beautiful fermenting pots (optional but recommended!) why not try your hand at a bit of alchemy & turn an already lovely (preferably organic*) cabbage into a magical pot of living Sauerkraut.

Traditional Sauerkraut Recipeby Ferment for Life

What you’ll neeed:

Long chef’s knife or cabbage shredder (mandolin)
Large Bowl or bucket
Ferment for Life Fermenting Pot

Ingredients

Cabbage (green or red)
Salt (non-iodised)
Caraway Seeds
Onion
Optional ingredients: dill, grape leaf, horseradish, turmeric, ginger, garlic etc.

Instructions:

1. Wash the fermenting Pot & Vegetables thoroughly
2. Remove the outer leaves of the cabbage, cut in half and remove the stalk.
3. Slice or shred the cabbage into thin slices and place into bowl.
4. Add approx. 20g Salt, 1 T Caraway Seeds, 1 chopped onion per kilo of cabbage
5. Mix all ingredients thoroughly in large bowl and then pound (or stomp!) the cabbage for a couple of minutes until plenty of juice (brine) has been released.
6. Fill the fermenting pot with the cabbage and brine. Pack the cabbage tightly using your fist, making sure there are no gaps or air pockets. The brine should cover the cabbage by at least 3-5cm.
7. Once the cabbage is packed in and submerged under the brine, allow a gap of approximately 5 cm below the rim of the fermenting pot. Do not fill pot all the way to top!
8. Place a whole cabbage leaf over the shredder cabbage and then weight it all down using a weight – like a smooth clean stone, a small plate, or a jar filled with water.
9.Place the lid on and fill the groove in which the lid sits with water. (This ensures a hermetic seal that prevents air from coming in yet allows the CO2 gases to escape).
Within a few days you will hear a gurgling or bubbling sound as the fermentation begins and the gasses bubble up from under the lid.

Keep your fermenting pot in a stable environment where the temperature doesn’t fluctuate too much. Check the water groove every couple of days as the water can evaporate & may need to be topped up.

The main part of the fermenting process takes place within the first 3-4 weeks after which time the bubbling sounds become less frequent.

Your sauerkraut will be ready to enjoy eating after 5-6weeks; you can either take it out of the fermenting pot as you use it (keeping in mind that the flavor will continue to develop), or you can take it all out and store in jars in the fridge.

You can find the Ferment for Life fermenting pots online

here

or locally at GreenWorld Health and Lifestyle 177 High St, Motueka.

To learn more about the connection between the digestive system and general health

this interview

with Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride is a good place to start.

Dr Natasha Campbell-McBride

is the Author of Gut and Psychology Syndrome the widely popular GAPS diet that has helped people across the globe health their gut and create changes in an array of health problems.

References:
Nourishing Traditions; Sally Fallon, Mary Enig.
The New Whole Foods Encyclopedia; Rebecca Wood;

Simple Sauerkraut Recipe - Enhancing Your Health with Fermented Foods﻿ (2024)