Sauerkraut

• 1 head of spring cabbage, about 450-500g when shredded
• 1 medium carrot
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
• 10g good quality sea salt
• 1 dried chili, deseeded and snipped into little pieces with scissors
• 1 tsp caraway seeds
• 1 tsp black mustard seeds
• ½ tsp fennel seeds

METHOD

This amount of cabbage makes less than one 1 litre jar, kilner or an ordinary jar with a well-fitting lid.

1. Shred the cabbage quite finely, discarding any blemished outer leaves but save one. Julienne or coarsely grate the carrot.

2. Place the vegetables with the garlic in a large bowl, add the salt and rub it into the cabbage with your hands for a couple of minutes. Cover the bowl with a clean cloth and leave for a few hours, up to overnight.

3. Rinse the jar with boiling water. Add the spices and chili and toss them through the cabbage with your hands. Put the cabbage into the jar in four or five goes, packing it tightly in with a handle of a wooden spoon or a meat mallet. Pour any left juices over the top.

4. Rinse the spare leaf and press it into the jar on top of the cabbage – ideally there should be enough juice to cover it, the leaf is there to keep it immersed. Weigh the leaf down with a clean large pebble, a cup or a small bowl, anything that will fit into the jar. Leave it open but cover with a piece of muslin or a clean cloth.

5. After 24 hours check if the cabbage has not floated to the top, press it down again with the wooden spoon to get rid of any trapped air, recover with the leaf, bowl and the cloth and keep it in a cool, darkish spot. The fermenting will take between 1 – 3 weeks, depending on the season and the temperatures.

6. After a week start tasting the sauerkraut. When it’s sour and tart enough for you, discard the leaf, close the jar with the lid and keep the sauerkraut in the fridge.

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See also

Kimchi

Spring cabbage salad