Fermenting your own homemade Sauerkraut

Research shows that there is a huge amount of interaction between the body's immune system and bacteria in the gut. 'Beneficial gut bacteria species decrease the severity of the symptoms of a common cold. So, we need to focus on optimising our gut health, strengthening the gut lining and re-inoculating (re-populating your gut with bacteria by eating prebiotic and probiotic rich foods). The best probiotic food sources are fermented foods such sauerkraut, fermented tempeh (type of soya), miso, kefir and yogurt.

Instead of relying on canned foods when stocking up foods at home, why not consider fermenting our own food? Fermentation is one of the oldest way to preserve foods by our forefathers. Besides preservation of foods for later consumption, fermentation also provides added benefits such as increase probiotic content, increase antioxidant and nutrient availability (easier for the body to absorb) and delicious at the same time. Let's start with the easiest and versatile recipe - sauerkraut. It requires only 2 basic ingredients - cabbage and salt. You can add other vegetables, spices and herbs to enhance the flavour to your preference.

Sauerkraut recipe

• 500g Cabbage (preferably organic)

• 200g Carrot

• 1 tbsp sea salt

Variations (choose only 1-2 herbs/spices combo for best flavour, eg: beetroot +coriander seeds +ginger, etc)

• 200g beetroot

• 20g fresh turmeric

• 1 tsp Coriander seeds / cumin / fennel seeds

• 20g ginger

• 2 cloves garlic

Utensil

• 1 glass jar (300ml), sterilised by soaking in boiling water and then air dried

Method

1. Wash and slice cabbage and other vegetables (if using) thinly and place them in a big bowl. Leave 1 leaf of cabbage intact without slicing for later use.

2. Sprinkle salt and rub it into the sliced cabbage (and other vegetables if using), knead for a few minutes. The vegetables would start to dehydrate and water would seep out.

3. Add spices of choice, mix well.

4. Squeeze the water out of the cabbage and stuff into the prepared jar, compacting it to ensure no air pocket. Use a teaspoon to stuff and compact the cabbage into the jar.

5. Fill the jar to 3/4 full. Fold the intact cabbage leaf into quarter and stuff into the jar, so that the sliced cabbages would be fully submerged in brine. The jar would be full.

6. Close jar tightly with the cover and leave to ferment for 1-3 weeks before transferring it into fridge or consumption.

Notes

1. Ensure cabbage is fully submerged in brine, jar is tightly closed, with minimal air pockets in the jar, to ensure proper fermentation in anaerobic environment (no oxygen) for lactic acid bacteria to grow, and to prevent mold.

2. Place jar on a plate to catch liquids that may seep out of the jar as the sauerkraut ferments.

3. Sauerkraut is ready for consumption after 1 week of fermentation, but for best flavour, 3 weeks of fermentation is ideal.

4. Finished product should smell sourish, with scent of cabbage and spices/herbs that you add. If the smell is off (fishy/rotten smell), or if it is moldy, it means the fermentation process is unsuccessful and sauerkraut is unsafe for consumption.

5. I personally find having good and happy thoughts when making fermented foods helped in producing a lovely fermented end product.

Do give it a try!