Sauerkraut or
Kimchi
I understand that the gut biome is vital to be kept alive. As I understand we need to consumer a large variety of fibrous foods to create an environment that allows the bacteria in our gut to live. I have noticed that when there have been days without sufficient vegetables and fruit in my diet I have been worse for wear. Having a jar of fermented cabbage in my fridge allows me to always have some fibre in my home ready to eat, even if I have just come home from a long trip.
Ingredients and tools
As far as tools go, this needs a mixing bowl, a chopping board, a sharp knife and a large jar.
Salt and cabbage are essential ingredients and I often add things such as garlic, spices, ginger, onion among other things. The recipe will differ every time from person to person.
Remove the outer leaves
Take off the outer two or three leaves. These will become the lid for your jar. Two will probably do but if you have too much you can always chop up the additional leaf. These will mostly be sacrificial.
Chop up the rest of the cabbage
Chop the rest of the cabbage and add it to the mixing bowl along with any other ingredients such as spice or garlic. Throw in some salt, a few pinches. Imagine enough to make a jar of water salty. That much.
Pay the tax
Cabbage is a taxable event like cheese and chicken, and a percentage of which must be given to the tax man.
Stir it together
So all the ingredients are mixed up. Then start squeezing the juices out.
Really use your hands
This could take 20 minutes or more so put on some music or a podcast.
The juicing
At some point the cell walls will break and the juices will come out. It takes a little more squeezing but the hard part is over.
After the juicing comes the spooning
That's right scoop that cabbage mix out and put it in the jar. A ladle is good for this as it lets you squash the cabbage below the juice line. This anaerobic conditions are what will let the mix ferment.
Add the lid
Those outer leaves from earlier are now your lid. Put them on and again squash them down so they are below the juice line.
It should look like this
You will have to poke the lids down once a day as the carbon dioxide build-up in the mix will raise the juice level over the edge of the jar. When you poke it down you will see it escape and the level fall again. It is good to place the jar on a plate. Now it is best to wait about 10 days. The longer you wait the more sour the kraut will be.
