How to Make Sauerkraut

Intro:

Since young I always enjoyed sauerkraut but I only ate it on a few occasions because its not available on supermarkets where I live. So last year I've started doing it at home and discovered that is a pretty easy and funny process.

What is sauerkraut ?

Sauerkraut is a typical german food, it is basically cabbage that has been naturally fermented by various lactic acid bacteria. It has a long shelf life and a sour flavor.

Ingredients:

• One head of cabbage
• Salt (try to get sea salt or any salt with no iodine)

Steps:

Shred the cabbage:

• Clean the cabbage by removing the out layers, but do not wash it, we want the natural bacteria of the cabbage to help on the fermentation process.

• Slice all the cabbage into small shreds.

• Put the cabbage shreds in a bowl.

Add salt to the cabbage:

• Sprinkle the salt on the shredded cabbage, I use 3 tablespoon of salt for a large head of cabbage but if you want a more precise measure you can use 1 and a half tablespoon of salt per pound of cabbage.

• The salt is really important in the sauerkraut because it pulls water from the cabbage making it more crunchy and it also stops the growth of bacteria other than lactobacilli. This way the sauerkraut can be stored for a long period of time.

Crush and squeeze the cabbage:

• Crush the cabbage with your fists and squeeze it to pull water out of the leaves. You can stop crushing when you feel the cabbage is very wet.
• Put a towel inside of the bowl and let it rest for 30 minutes and than squeeze the cabbage a little bit more. This time you will notice more water in the bottom of the bowl.
  

The red powder on the cabbage is paprika, I added it because I'm experimenting different spices on the sauerkraut.

Put the cabbage in a jar:

• Put the cabbage in a jar with all its liquid and compact the shreds as much as possible.
• Cover the jar with a towel and a rubber, not with the lid because the fermentation process also creates gas. Believe me, you don't want a jar full of sauerkraut exploding in your kitchen.
• If the cabbage isn't completely submerged by the liquid add some salty water (1 tablespoon per cup of water).
• Its important that the shreds are fully covered by the liquid to prevent any possible bacteria to get into your sauerkraut.

Let it ferment:

• Put your cabbage in a cool and dark place and let it ferment for at least 2 weeks. Although ideally you should let it ferment for at least 1 mouth.
• The longer you leave it fermenting, the more sour it will get. You can try it once a week until it reaches the flavor you want.

Store it:

• Once the sauerkraut reached the flavor that you want you can put the lid on your jar and store it on the refrigerator to stop the fermentation process.

Enjoy it:

You can eat your sauerkraut in a salad, alone and even on the hot dog, as the germans do. I thought it would be weird to put sauerkraut on the hot dog, but after I tried it I realized that the flavors match perfectly.

Benefits:

According to wikipedia sauerkraut has a lot of health benefits as:

• Live lactobacilli and beneficial microbes and is rich in enzymes. The fiber and supply of probiotics improve digestion and promote the growth of healthy bowel flora, protecting against many diseases of the digestive tract.
• It is a source of vitamins B, C, and K. The fermentation process increases the bioavailability of nutrients rendering sauerkraut even more nutritious than the original cabbage. It is also low in calories and high in calcium and magnesium, and it is a very good source of dietary fiber, folate, iron, potassium, copper and manganese.

You can find the full list of benefits on wikipedia.