Purple Carrot & Chinese Cabbage Sauerkraut

Your gut will thank you

Let’s all get used to including a fermented food in our diet every day. Simply add some coconut yoghurt to your breakfast, some sauerkraut to your lunch, wash it down with tasty kombucha and drop a tablespoon of miso into your stew. Done! PS: This sauerkraut is seriously healthy and seriously addictive.

For the Sauerkraut

Ingredients

1 head Chinese cabbage 

1 tbsp sea salt

2 medium sized purple carrots, finely sliced or grated 

a few twigs of thyme

1 tsp grated ginger

you will also need

mason jar, clean and rinsed with hot water before use

make sure that you wash your hands before being in contact with the ingredients. Despite basic hygienic measures, we all have naturally occurring bacteria on our hands some of which may even aid the fermentation process – so don’t be afraid, your kitchen doesn’t have to turn into a sanitised hospital room! 

Instructions

1. Remove the outer leaves of the cabbage and rinse them well. We need them to seal our jar of sauerkraut later on.

2. Take the rest of your cabbage and thinly slice it.

3. Place your sliced cabbage in a big bowl and generously sprinkle with salt – 1 tablespoon of salt per cabbage will be enough. Place a weight (such as a pot or a plate) on your salted cabbage and let it rest for at least 1 hour (2 hours are better – if you have enough time, you can even let the cabbage rest overnight). 

4. In the meantime, grate the carrots.

5. Give the salted cabbage a good massage with both your hands (wash them before) until a lot of water drains from it - this will be our fermenting juice - every drop is precious!

6. Add the grated carrots, grated ginger, twigs of thyme, then press the cabbage, carrot and spice mix into the mason jar. It is important that the vegetables and spices are submerged in the cabbage juice. If you find that there isn’t sufficient liquid to ensure that our sauerkraut is covered in liquid, add a few tbsp of salted water (2% salt solution).

7. To create a natural seal and prevent oxygen from spoiling our homemade ferment, stuff one of the outer cabbage leaves that we saved earlier on top of your sauerkraut. Another trick is to add a weight to your jar – such as a small plastic bag filled with water and tied with a knot so no liquid can escape. Simply add this weight onto the mason jar and gently press it down, thereby making sure that liquid shoots up the sides to keep our cabbage under water.

8. Remove the rubber band of your mason jar and close the lid. The gases formed throughout the fermentation process will now be able to escape the jar. Let the sauerkraut ferment for a minimum of 2-3 days at room temperature, then place in the fridge. If you’re in for a funkier, tangier and more intense flavour profile, let it ferment for longer. Once in the fridge, your ferment will be good for a few months - but if you eat it daily, you’ll soon have to make another batch!