Tuesday 18 November 2014

Great Ferment!


I don't have a photo of the final kraut, just this one when it was freshly made.
It all settles and packs down, reabsorbing that liquid. The red from the onion leaches
out to give the kraut a nice soft colour too.

Cracked into the second batch of krautchi that i made at the weekend and it was SO good. It's just so easy and yet so tasty. I absolutely recommend you get this stuff on the go in your kitchen. I'm going to still be playing around with mixtures, but i will be making a double batch of this one again soon.

 It was 1 white cabbage, 1 red onion, 1 carrot, 2 cloves garlic, small piece of ginger, some dried chillies and about a tablespoon of coriander seeds. I sliced the cabbage, onion, garlic on a mandolin, grated the carrot and finely cut the ginger. Just put all those veggies in a big bowl and sprinkle on about 1 tablespoon of salt (Himalayan pink for me). Then crunch it all up with your hands for about 10 mins, until it's dripping with juice. Then i added the seeds and chilli, mixed it all through and packed it down hard into my jar, you want it all covered with the liquid. Cover it with a couple of the outer cabbage leaves (give it another shove down with your knuckle) . Leave it for a couple of weeks... or more. Done. Easy!

My first kraut that i made at the class was ok, but i was expecting more in the flavour, more fermented. It just tastes like nice cabbage in a very mild brine. I can happily eat that, but it's lacking.
I shall just leave it longer and see how it changes. This newer one was just more like i was expecting. It has a good zing to it. The small onion definitely helps for me and i love the little coriander hits! I've been mixing the two krauts together, which also works for me. Going to make a fermented hot chilli sauce this week i think.

Tracey has more fermented stuff going on her blog too at the moment so pop over there and have a look.

Or head over to Sandor Katz's Wild Fermentation if you really want to go fermental!


2 comments:

  1. Making this one today! I didn't make a kraut, made the kimchi instead. The recipe called for fish sauce and I think next batch I will cut back on that some, it tasted like a sushi roll, and while it was good, I would like it more for sandwiches and add ons for other things. Of all the things I made, I liked the radish/ Apple ferment and the hummus the best. I can definitely tell a difference in my digestion in just one week!

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  2. That spinach hummus looked awesome Tracey. We'll be making that!
    Keep sharing your news and recipes, yours always look so appetising!

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