Homemade Red Sauerkraut- how to ferment red cabbage at home and why it’s just so darn healthy for you. Use it on top of brisket, sandwiches, tacos, anything!!
Dill pickles. Fermented beets. This homemade red sauerkraut. Jews freaking love fermented foods! And recently I was inspired by new friends and bloggers to try it for myself. But what the heck is fermentation? Good question! By combining veggies or fruits with salt, the juices are extracted and lactic acid builds up and kills the bad bacteria that can spoil the food. Are you are left with is tasty, slightly sour food! Plus, it’s healthy for you to boot. What more could you ask for? Oh yeah, in the case of this sauerkraut, the cabbage turns neon pink. Quite possibly the world’s perfect food?
It’s easy to make your own red sauerkraut! First, prep your cabbage. Wash your cabbage and peel away any ugly pieces and reserve a few of the nicer layers. Then cut in half, and cut each of those pieces in half so you have quarters. Remove the hard core from each piece. Then slice thin.
You are going to need a few special items for this project. Make sure to use canning salt, as other salts will leave sediments and discolor your fermented food, and a fermentation jar like this jar
Pack the cabbage and juices in the jar a little at a time and squish down as much as you can, extracting more juices and blocking out any air. If the cabbage isn’t submerged under water, boil some salted water and let cool and pour over the cabbage to cover it. Then top with extra cabbage leaves to block out remaining air. Air is the enemy. And hangovers. Air and hangovers.
Tightly seal lid and leave in a dark place at room temperature for 1-3 weeks. I covered mine in a towel to protect it. Check it every day to make sure the cabbage is still submerged and skim any gunk. Start tasting after 7 days. In the cool winter, fermentation will take longer than in the hotter summer. In my opinion the longer it sits the better! Once it tastes the way you like, store in the refrigerator. It should keep for a few months once refrigerated.
Add to anything! Brisket, Reuben sandwiches, latkes. Yum!
Homemade Red Sauerkraut
Ingredients
- 1 glass jar with a air-tight lid
- 3 pounds red cabbage
- 2 Tablespoons pickling salt
- Fresh ginger jalapeño, apples, carrots, etc (optional)
Instructions
- To prep cabbage, wash the cabbage and peel away any ugly pieces and reserve a few of the nicer layers. Then cut in half, and cut each of those pieces in half so you have quarters. Remove the hard core from each piece. Then slice thin.
- Put the shredded cabbage (and other items if using) in a large bowl with salt and massage the cabbage to extract the juices until it begins to soften and shrink in size.
- Pack the cabbage and juices in the jar a little at a time and squish down as much as you can, extracting more juices and blocking out any air. If the cabbage isn’t submerged under water, boil some salted water and let cool and pour over the cabbage to cover it. Then top with extra cabbage leaves to block out remaining air.
- Tightly seal lid and leave in a dark place at room temperature for 1-3 weeks. I covered mine in a towel to protect it. Check it every day to make sure the cabbage is still submerged and skim any gunk. Start tasting after 7 days. In the cool winter, fermentation will take longer than in the hotter summer. In my opinion the longer it sits the better! Once it tastes the way you like, store in the refrigerator. It should keep for a few months once refrigerated.
- Add to anything! Brisket, Reuben sandwiches, latkes. Yum!
Mazel!
Amy
11 Comments
You wrote: “Jews freaking love fermented foods!” I don’t have a blog, but I’m definitely stealing that line. If only so that my non-Jewish friends understand why I make beer, mead, wine, and kvass and why I’ve made cheese and plan to ferment veggies too. (By the way kvass is a great old-world drink. Almost no alcohol, about 1.5%; 2% max, and it tastes like Russian rye bread.)
Love of fermentation is in my family. My parents made plum wine and my maternal grandmother made beer for her family in pre-Holocaust Poland.
I’ve been reading the book “The Art of Fermentation” by Sandor Katz, and I’ll be making fermented veggies soon. Here’s his web site: http://www.wildfermentation.com/.
Ha you can have the line! I’ve never heard of kvass but will definitely look into it. Sounds interesting! Thanks for sharing all these tips too!
The new look is superp!
Thanks, Prag! Still working on it but I think it’s going to be great!
I think you can speed up the lacto-fermentation to ~4 days (instead of weeks) if you control the temperature. Fermentation is very temperature sensitive. I put my jars in an insulated bag in an under-counter cabinet. I shoot for 72 degrees. If it’s too hot I throw a zip-lock baggie of ice in there as well. I don’t think I could wait 1-3 weeks!
Thanks for the tip! I usually just always have some fermenting so it’s always ready. I find the longer it ferments the better it tastes!
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If I wanted it to last longer, could I process these and can them for dry storage?
Sure!