We don’t have to turn on the stove to make the best cultured vegetable sauerkraut! First, remove the hard center core from the cabbage, then cut the vegetable into thin slices, which you can separate and chop into shreds. Or use a food processor with the slicing blade to create shreds from cored cabbage quarters. To ward off possible contamination, wear latex, nitrile, or vinyl gloves when working with sauerkraut. Once the sauerkraut is ready, serve it alongside any roasted meat. Or mix it into a chopped vegetable salad—you won’t need any additional dressing. Or fork up a bit during the day for a burst of energy.
1 medium cabbage (about 3 pounds), such as red, green, Savoy or Napa, cored and shredded
11/2 tablespoons Himalayan or Celtic sea salt
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger, caraway seeds, dried dill, fennel seeds, or thinly sliced green chiles such as jalapeño or serrano (optional)
1. Put the cabbage in a large bowl; sprinkle with the salt. Put on a pair of latex, nitrile, or vinyl gloves and rub and squeeze the salt through the cabbage, tossing and mixing constantly, until the vegetable starts to release its juices and becomes quite soft, about 10 minutes. Mix in the ginger or other seasoning, if using.
2. Divide the mixture between 2 sterilized 1-quart mason jars, tamping the cabbage down after each addition. Make sure each jar has 1 inch of space at the top.
3. Cover the mouth of each jar with a double layer of cheesecloth; secure with a rubber band. Set the jars on a rimmed baking sheet or in a baking pan in case the mixture bubbles up and the liquid comes over the top of the jars. Store in a cool room, around 65°F.
4. For the first 24 hours, occasionally remove the cheesecloth and press down on the cabbage mixture with gloved fingers to encourage the vegetable to release more moisture. After 24 hours, the cabbage should be submerged in liquid. If not, whisk 1 teaspoon of sea salt into 1 cup of water in a small bowl, then add as much of this brine to the jars as needed to submerge all the cabbage.
5. Cover the jars again with cheesecloth and return them to the cool room for 3 to 10 days, until the cabbage has a pleasantly sour flavor. The longer the cabbage sits, the softer and more sour it will become. Once the sauerkraut is to your liking, stop the fermentation process by covering the jars tightly with canning lids or plastic wrap and a rubber band and then storing in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
Note: To sterilize mason jars, either submerge the empty jars in a big pot of boiling water for 10 minutes or run them through an empty dishwasher with no detergent on an extra-hot cycle followed by the heated drying cycle. Set the jars upside down on paper towels on a heat-safe surface to dry for at least 15 minutes before using.
See my website primalfatburner.com for a more advanced bulk cultured vegetable recipe!