by Dana Zia, The Golightly Gourmet
Cabbages are an interesting veggie for me. I’m seduced by them, can’t keep my hands off them, but often they sit in the fridge unattended. I finally dig them out and do something with them when they give me enough guilty looks every time I open the fridge. Fortunately for me, and folks throughout history, the storage life of these amazing vegetables is a looooooong time.
Cabbage has been cultivated since about 600BC, where it was brought from Asia to the isle of Great Britain by none other than the adventurous Celts. (I can just imagine big burly Vikings rowing away with a boat full of cabbages) It flourished there and fed the people. Taking only three months growing time, one acre of cabbage will yield more edible vegetables than any other plant and keep all winter long. Important stuff for those days.
For many years, in many places, the cabbage is what kept the human race going nutritionally.  It is not a coincidence that just about every culture in the world has a recipe for some sort of pickled cabbage, like sauerkraut and kimchi, which are still wildly popular foods. Fermenting cabbage into kimchi or sauerkraut is definitely the new rage going on in home kitchens. In fact, we have some home fermented kimchi being sold at the farmer’s market occasionally by Henry Stanley. If you see it there, try it! Very delicious and oh so good for you. Because of this, many cooks are breaking out their gallon jars and filling them up with cabbage, salt and spices to create fermented super foods.
Fermented foods are amazing for our bodies and should be augmented into the diet. They have been shown to support the beneficial bacteria in our digestive tract. In our antiseptic world with antibacterial everything, we could use some beneficial bacteria in our bodies.
Here is a recipe for fermenting your very own sauerkraut. It is a process and takes time and patience. If you are into fermented foods you are going to love this! If this looks like too big of a deal to do, then do yourself a favor and buy a naturally fermented brand of sauerkraut to try like “Farmhouse” and “Bubbies” brands in the refrigerated section of the grocery store.  It is filled with good health and nutrition.
 
Homemade fermented classic sauerkraut
1 large head of cabbage, preferably green
1.5 tablespoons of salt
1 tablespoon of caraway seeds
 
Equipment that you need;
2 large mouth quart jars, washed in the dishwasher
A large non-metal mixing bowl
2 small skinny jelly jars full of scrubbed clean rocks
Clean cheesecloth or muslin
A couple rubber bands
A muddler or something to tamp down the cabbage
Okay dokey, ready to ferment? Here we go. First off peel the droopy outer leaves off your cabbage then cut it into 4ths, de-core it, then finely slice each wedge crossways to make thin ribbons. Toss the cabbage ribbons into a large mixing bowl, separating the ribbons as you do. Sprinkle the salt over the mix then begin to rub the salt into the cabbage by massaging it all. At first it seems you are getting nowhere but after about 4-5 minutes you will begin to notice that the cabbage is breaking down and getting wetter and smaller. After somewhere between 5-10 minutes of massaging, when your cabbage is reduced to half the size you’re done. Massage in the caraway seeds for a few more minutes and it is ready to go.
Next, get out 2 canning quart sized jars and stuff them with the cabbage mix. Tamp the cabbage down as you go to tightly pack it in the jars. I used a canning funnel and a muddler and it worked great. You can pack it down with a large wooden spoon too. When you have the mixture evenly divided between the two jars and squished down tight, pour what fluid is left in the bottom of the bowl over the cabbage. Take an outer leaf you pulled off from the cabbage and tuck it over the to-be sauerkraut to keep the oxygen from getting to it. Tamp it down again.
Now place your rock filled (I know, it’s high tech here) jelly jars on top of the cabbage to keep it submerged. Cover with the clean cloth, put a rubber band around each of the jars and place in a quiet room, out of direct sunlight at the temperature of 65-75 degrees consistently, to do its magic. If the temperature rises above 75 degrees, move it to a cooler location as hot fermentation can make the whole thing go off. It will taste and smell bad. Cold temperatures just slow down the process but no harm done.
Press the cabbage down every few hours the first day to get the juices flowing. (I just pressed down and the rock filled jar to do this with no need to remove the rubber band and cloth.) The liquid will begin to seep out of the cabbage and cover it. This is your brine.  Allow the cabbage to ferment for 3-10 days, pressing it down daily under the brine.  ( I found that 7 days was just about right)
While it is fermenting you will see lots of bubbles and activity, which shows it is alive and well.  As long as the cabbage stays under the surface of the brine, fermentation will occur perfectly.  If any mold or scummy stuff grows on the surface, remove it immediately and then re-submerge your cabbage. The sauerkraut under the brine is fine.
Begin tasting it at day 3-4 and then every day until it reaches the perfect tangy-ness for you. When it gets at your preferred flavor, remove the cloth, the jelly jars and the top cabbage leaf and fluff it up into the liquid. Store in the fridge with a lid on it and it will last months.  As long as it still smells and tastes good, it’s good.  Put on your salads, with your hot dogs, or anywhere else you can think. It is GOOD for you!