Sauerkraut

Sauerkraut is fermented cabbage. It is both, probiotic as well as prebiotic; it has many good bacterias and fiber that are good for the health of our microbiome.
Many vegetables are good candidate for fermentation, my favourite is red cabbage.
Fermented red cabbage taste great, crunchy and not sour as is the case with white cabbage. It is very easy to ferment red cabbage, the only ingredient required is salt.

Here is how I ferment red cabbage.

Ingredients:
1. One red cabbage head
2. 11/2 to 2 table spoons salt (I use Himalayan Sea Salt)

Red cabbage shredded in food processor; Himalayan salt added.

Steps:
1. Shred the cabbage finely (use food processor if available), save one leaf.
2. Add salt evenly (do it in layers) and mash, squeeze, pound the cabbage until liquid appears.
3. Stuff the shredded cabbage and all liquid into a glass jar; push and pound to the bottom of the jar, the liquid should totally cover the cabbage by about one inch.
4. Cut the cabbage leaf (saved in step 1.) to the size of the diameter of the jar and cover the shredded cabbage with it, push it down.
5. Put something heavy on top of the leaf to keep all cabbage immersed under the liquid (I use a glass filled with marbles).
6. Put some virgin olive oil to cover the surface of the liquid. This acts as a seal, preventing air getting in touch with the liquid but allowing gas from fermentation to escape (similar to airlock).
7. Put the lid on the jar but do not tighten it, allowing gas to escape.
8. Store at room temperature for about 10 days.
9. Remove the leaf and weight, the sauerkraut is ready for consumption.
10. Close the lid tight and store the the sauerkraut in the fridge.

Glass marbles in a glass use as weight.

Notes:
Longer fermentation time makes the sauerkraut more sour.
Sometimes I added a couple dates, cut finely, to the mix (during mashing) to have a little sweet taste.

For more info on making sauerkraut - Click here