Fermenting – feeding your gut and your biome

I have always loved sauerkraut, a fermented cabbage with its origins in Eastern Europe but never realised how healthy it was for me.  I have been reading about feeding your gut and it all suggests that we need to eat more fermented foods including live yogurts, keffir (a fermented milk drink like a thin yogurt) and of course the cabbages like sauerkraut, red cabbage and kimchi (a Korean fermented Chinese cabbage with chilli).

Fermenting is one of the oldest techniques for preserving foods and is part of many current cultures today.

Lakeland have a range of fermenting jars which make the whole process really, really easy.  The jars come in three sizes; 1.2 litre, 1.4 litre and 1.8 litre.  The lids have a special valve to let the bad air out however not letting in any air or germs to ruin your fermentation.  There is no need to ‘burp’ the jars as this is done with the valve.

For my first fermentation I wanted to make sauerkraut, one of my favourite foods for years.  I think my German heritage along with living in Austria for a couple of years made this an essential food.

After finely slicing the cabbage (avoiding the thick bits of the core) and mixing 1 kilo in a large bowl with 25 gm of salt, mixing well with your hands until the cabbage feels wet (this would be a great time to add some caraway seeds if you wan to use them) you put it into your fermenting jar a handful at a time.  After each handful pack the cabbage down as hard as you can.  Place a small plate or ramekin filled with baking beans and wrapped in cling foil on top to keep the cabbage submerged or you can get some special glass ‘pebbles’ from Lakeland to keep the cabbage submerged. You then can put the lid on and push the valve stopper down.

All set and ready to keep an eye on and check every day that the cabbage is submerged.  After 4-5 days when you like the taste you can keep it in the fridge, the cold will stop the fermentation process.

My second attempt at fermentation was a carrot and ginger ferment.  Peel the carrots and ginger and cut into thin match stick slices.

Firmly pack into the jar and cover with a brine made with 25gm of salt per litre of cooled boiled water.

Now I was on a roll, enjoying my sauerkraut and the carrot and ginger match sticks fermenting away it was time to try Kimchi.  Kimchi is a fermented Chinese cabbage with garlic and chilli as well as thinkly sliced spring onions and for a real hit you can use some white radish.  It is important to wear protective gloves if you handle the chilli because you will certainly know it if you accidentally rub an eye before washing your hands!

Kimchi is ready to leave at room temperature and the fermenting can begin.  To keep the cabbage submerged I have put a couple of little ramekins filled with baking beans and wrapped in cling film on top.

I am now looking around for what to ferment next! We had just picked some fresh beetroot from the allotment so I decided to give that a try.  I peeled the raw beetroot and sliced it all very thinly.  Cover with the brine made with 25 gms salt per 1 litre cooled boiled water and add the weights to keep the beetroot submerged.  The beetroot was quite lively and fizzed out a bit at first so I now keep it on a plate.

After the beetroot has been fermented I think I will pickle it

And finally I am trying fermented red cabbage. The procedure is exactly the same as for sauerkraut.