Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

• Soured veggies, fermented in their own juices.
• First thing to do is to salt the vegetables to dehydrate them slightly, to break the cell walls, then clean off the salt (otherwise its too salty).
• Cut them to small pieces to begin with. Then pack them tight in a preferably glass jar.
• Add spices of your choice, even sugar (not too much otherwise will go bad). Be sure the spices are not antibacterial (or too antibacterial)
• Put in warm temperature. Make sure to put it over a tub because the container will overflow…
• The fermentation will create CO2 bubbles that will displace the water, and eventually water will come out of the container.
• Also important to not seal the container airtight or it’ll explode. Push back the veggies every couple of days, or put heavy ‘sacrificial’ vegetable like cabbage that will probably go bad, but will protect the other vegetables from air contact.
• Like Kimchi, important to make sure it’s in a decently warm temperature, otherwise it’ll be slow to ferment, more opportunities for pathogens to spoil it.
• Recommend above 60F.
• Can be eaten just like that, in salads, sandwiches, as sides, with rice or other carbs, can be cooked, even in soups, for fried rice!
• Need to make sure you are testing every couple of days after the first week, don’t want it to be too sour, or too limp, otherwise no great texture, and the vegetables will break down into a mush.
• Creating crispy ferments is a challenge!
• Play around with spices but be careful, some of them might have anti biotic / anti-bacterial or fungal properties, and that might mess around with the ferment, better to start off with a known tested recipe.

Sauerkrauts. Sauerkrauts are literally soured veggies fermented in their own juices. Here’s how you make them. Salt your green or leafy vegetables and dehydrate them slightly to break the cell walls, then clean off the salt. Otherwise, your ferment is going to be too salty. Cut them into decently sized chunks that you can eat, then pack them tightly in, preferably glass jars. Add spices of your choice, making sure that those spices ideally don’t have antibiotic properties. You can even add a little bit of sugar, though not too much; otherwise, the ferment will spoil.

Put the container or fermentation jar in a warm temperature. Make sure to put it over a tub because the container will lightly overflow, and you don’t want those funky sour juices stinking up and seeping into your kitchen walls or your closet. The fermentation will create carbon dioxide bubbles that will displace water, and eventually, the gas bubbles will be trapped under the vegetables, pushing the water out, which will flow out of the container. It’s important not to seal the container airtight; otherwise, it could explode due to the carbon dioxide pressure. Push the vegetables down every couple of days, or put a heavy sacrifice vegetable, like cabbage, that will probably go bad but will protect the other vegetables from air contact by pushing them down.

There are also glass weights available to buy online that are designed specifically for this use. Like kimchi, it’s important to make sure it’s in a decently warm temperature; otherwise, the ferment will be slow, which means the pathogens will have more opportunities to spoil it. It’s ideal if sauerkraut is fermented in temperatures over 60 Fahrenheit. Sauerkraut can be eaten just raw in salads, in sandwiches, as sides with rice or other carbs. It can be cooked, put in soups, and used in fried rice. Um. Make sure that you are testing your sauerkraut batch every couple of days after the first week. You don’t want it to be too sour or too limp; otherwise, the texture won’t be great. It will be too limp, and the vegetables will break down. Creating crispy ferments is a challenge, and a look into either adding black tea into the container, or oak leaves, or grape leaves—oak leaves, grape leaves, and black teas—have tannins, which are supposed to stop the vegetables from going limp.

There are many different ways to play around with spices, but it’s important to be careful because some of them could have antibiotic or antibacterial or anti-fungal properties, and that could mess up the ferment. It’s a really good idea to start off with a known and tested recipe from somebody who is good at making sauerkraut, and eventually, as one’s level of comfort increases, add one’s own flourishes. I’ve made several batches of sauerkraut, though I don’t do it anymore since moving to Seattle because I’ve been busy with other alcoholic ferments, and also kimchi is so affordable here. I don’t, there’s not enough fridge space for all of the fridge and all the sauerkraut anymore. There’s already an entire rack in my fridge that mostly has my ferments.