Homemade Sauerkraut with Shallots & Caraway Seeds
Description
While the recipe below does not include any added brine, the liquid that preserves the cabbage and shallots comes from the salted vegetables themselves.
The next time you are invited to a fall BBQ with burgers & dogs, bring along a jar of this homemade sauerkraut to share with friends. Or quietly give a small jar to your best friend who loves hot dogs or Reuben sandwiches.
Prep time: 30 minutes
Fermentation duration: 3-5 days for a milder taste; 2-3 weeks for a stronger, more sour taste.
Serves: 15
Note: You can slice the cabbage with a mandolin, and then cut it down a bit further. It’s important to give the salted vegetables time at room temperature to sit and soften and release some of their liquids before you put them in the jar. You can aggressively squeeze the cabbage with clean hands for a few minutes after you’ve salted it, which helps to bruise the cell walls of the vegetables, and allows for the release of more liquid. Once the vegetables have released enough liquid and you have transferred them to your jar, firmly press down on the vegetables to ensure that they rest below the surface of the liquid brine. You may have to push the vegetables down a few times during the first day when you begin fermenting them, as they have a tendency to rise up above the surface of the liquid.
When you are first slicing your cabbage, save some of the outer leaves from the cabbage and use those hearty outer leaves to weigh down the sliced vegetables after they have been added to the fermentation vessel. I saw this trick in a video from the great Sandor Katz, and it works wonderfully. Alternatively, you can always use a glass or ceramic (no metal allowed) fermentation weight.
Ingredients
Instructions
When you are ready to begin your fermentation, clean and sanitize a one-quart mason jar or equal-sized fermentation vessel.
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Set aside two entire cabbage leaves for later.
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Slice your cabbage as finely as possible, and place the sliced cabbage in a large mixing bowl.
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Slice the shallots as finely as possible, and add them to the mixing bowl with the cabbage.
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Salt the finely-sliced cabbage and shallots, and allow the vegetables to sit for 20 minutes at room temperature.
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Use your clean hands to squeeze out the salted cabbage and shallots to encourage even more liquid to drain into your mixing bowl.
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Toast the caraway seeds, and add them to the mixing bowl with the vegetables.
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Transfer the vegetables with toasted caraway seeds to your clean mason jar, and press the vegetables down firmly until they are submerged below the surface of the brine.
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Keep the vegetables submerged below the surface of the brine using the whole cabbage leaves that you saved from earlier.
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Press the remaining two whole cabbage leaves down onto your sliced vegetables to keep them submerged.
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Cover the jar with a lid, and check on the ingredients at least once per day to release the gas that has built up inside the jar. You can open the jar a few times on the first day when the product is fermenting, as it is very active during the early stages of the process.
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The longer you ferment this product, the more sour your sauerkraut is going to be. If you prefer a less sour and fresher finished product, transfer your jar to the fridge after roughly 3-5 days. For a more sour finished product, you can wait as long as 2-3 weeks, assuming you check on your jar every day and make sure things remain submerged below the surface of the liquid.
User Reviews
The caraway seeds are a nice added touch here!