Pink Hispi Cabbage Sauerkraut
Just to be clear, I sadly don’t grow pink cabbages! The pink colour comes from the addition of beetroot. Having said that, I’m delighted that we’ve grown some delightful green hispi cabbages this year, and if you’re not a regular vegetable fermenter, this is a great place to start.
Makes a 500ml jar
300g hispi cabbage (weighed after you’ve removed the outer leaves and core
100g grated beetroot
100g grated carrot
1 padron pepper (or other chilli), finely sliced (optional)
15g sugar
10g sea salt
Chop up the cabbage and chilli and grate your beetroot and carrot. Save at least one outer cabbage leaf for later.
Put all the veg into a large bowl and sprinkle on the salt and sugar. I find 10g of sea salt is around 2.5 teaspoons, and 15g of granulated sugar is 3 to 4 teaspoons.
Massage the sugar and salt into the veg. After a few minutes it should start to go soft and lots of liquid will be released.
Push the veg into a clean jar. 500g of veg will make around 500ml of sauerkraut, though you won’t believe me when you first start pushing it into the jar. It takes a while to squeeze out any air gaps. If you’re struggling, let the veg sit for a bit longer.
Push a cabbage leaf over the top of your veg once it’s in the jar to keep all the chopped veg under the liquid.
Close the jar (sit the jar in a container so as it ferments and liquids escape you don’t stain your furniture with beetroot juice) and place it in a warm spot in your house for a few days.
Taste every 2-3 days and once it tastes suitably sour, you can move the jar into your fridge and / or start eating it.
The fridge will slow down the fermentation but not stop it. After a year or so it will be pretty funky and delicious in a whole new way!