Healthy Food
Red cabbage and fennel seed sauerkraut
Sauerkraut is a tart side-dish, the perfect accompaniment to meat, salads, jacket potatoes or even eaten sneakily by the forkful straight from the jar. This colourful variation uses red cabbage, one of our favourite winter ingredients – a gut-friendly substitution for boiled red cabbage to accompany a roast. It’s worth keeping a good sauerkraut recipe to hand, as it’s so simple to make and incredibly good for us. Not only is the fibre beneficial for bowel health, but the fermentation means that all those good bugs will help support the growth of even more. Even just a tablespoon each day will make all the difference.
Ingredients
- 2kg red cabbage, finely shredded
- 1 tbsp sea salt
- 1 tsp fennel seeds or caraway seeds
Method
- Put the finely shredded cabbage into a large glass or ceramic bowl, add the salt and fennel seeds and massage it all together with your hands, coating well.
- Now pound the cabbage – a good thing to use for this is the pestle from a pestle and mortar or the round end of a rolling pin. Squash and pound it for about 5-10 minutes until plenty of water is released.
- Spoon the cabbage, a little at a time, into the sterilised jar, squashing it down as you go, using the pestle or rolling pin, and making sure it’s tightly packed.
- Make sure the cabbage is fully immersed under the water – it needs this to ferment properly. Secure the lid and leave for 3-16 days in the kitchen, or longer if you like a stronger flavour. The process will be slower if you prefer it to ferment in your fridge.
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