Make Your Own Sauerkraut

Method

For the brine, put the water and salt in a cooking pot and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally to encourage the salt to dissolve.

Allow to cool, then chill the brine in the fridge to about 5°C.

Put the shredded cabbage into a bowl or plastic container and pour in the chilled brine so that it covers the cabbage.

It is quite tricky to keep cabbage submerged in brine, but placing a sieve, the right way up, on top of the cabbage, works well.

Cover the bowl (with the sieve still on top) with a tea towel or cling film and leave in a cool place, such as a pantry, with an ambient temperature no higher than 23°C, for 2 weeks.

This will allow fermentation to begin without letting harmful bacteria multiply.

After 2 weeks, drain the brine from the cabbage.

Your sauerkraut is now ready to eat.

You can either serve it as it is, in a similar fashion to coleslaw, or place it in a pan, cover it with chicken stock and simmer it very gently for 30 minutes or so.

You can store the sauerkraut in a sealed Kilner jar or large jars in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.