Fermented Vegetables tips and recipes

I love fermented vegetables and often make and eat them. I've been asked how I make my ferments and so am posting this both for in case anyone wants to start fermenting but also wondered if other members would be willing to share their tips and recipes for fermented vegetables?

Many Traditional Kimchi recipes have too much sugar or juice etc so what I call Kimchi is actually a spicy version of my Sauerkraut which I have detailed below.

My one jar version of Sauerkraut

one kilner or mason jar sterilised (I use a one litre jar – a wide mouth clip top is easy to pack and use). Large bowl to use to salt and massage your cabbage.

Cabbage – I tend to use one small white or red cabbage. Need to weigh the cabbage being used to calculate the salt needed. It does shrink after it has been salted as water comes out of it.

Salt – good quality, you’ll need 2% of the weight of the cabbage.

Take off the outer leaves of the Cabbage and put one large leaf to one side for use later. Shred the cabbage - the thinner the shreds, the easier it will be to pull moisture out. Put into a large mixing bowl, massage it, then scatter with your measured salt. Once the salt is added, simply massage with clean hands for 10 minutes or until the cabbage has reduced quite a bit in size and released quite a bit of liquid at the base of the bowl. Put to one side for about 20mins to allow more water to come out and while you prepare other veggies.

Then add some colour and flavour. Shred or grate some vegetables of your choice to go with your cabbage – just enough to fill the jar.

You could include for example grated carrot, apple, celeriac, red pepper, radishes, beetroot, radishes, celery or onions – choose your favourite veg or just what you have left over in fridge.

Add something aromatic that you like this could be for example grated ginger or turmeric or garlic or add caraway seeds, juniper or allspice berries. My favourites are ginger and turmeric root.

Mix again to incorporate and you’ve practically made sauerkraut!

Place the shredded veg and the salted juices in your large jar, pushing it down to ensure the brine fully covers the veg to help fermentation. Add a little water, if necessary. As the lactofermentation process is anaerobic (without oxygen), the veg has to be submerged. You can cover it with a cabbage leaf or, if have one, a small fermentation weight.

Cover the jar, without sealing it, and leave it out at room temperature out of direct sunlight or in a cupboard , until it is as sour as you like it. This can take a few days or a couple of weeks. The longer you leave a ferment, the more potent it gets, so keep tasting to your preference. For me especially when it gets warmer this can be just a few days. If you are new to fermentation maybe eat it youngish while you get used to the flavours and the ferments.

The veg will change colour – red cabbage can go blue, celeriac can darken – but as long as the taste is right, it is not a problem. It’s OK if the liquid goes slimy; it may be because it wasn’t salted enough, or it got too warm. Just add some lemon juice and put it in the fridge – the cultures should balance out again. If a tiny bit of mold has formed, it’s usually okay, you can scoop it out and discard. Once the flavour is where you want it, seal the jar and refrigerate it. I usually eat for up to a month from the fridge.

Kimchi I now just tend to make what I call Kimchi but it’s made like the sauerkraut but spicer and mainly other vegetables, I usually add chillies or chili flakes There are recipes if you google but a lot of ingredients - So it may be easier to stick to a spicier version of sauerkraut, as I do and call it kimchi!

IanBish said:

Thanks for the how-to guide. I used to use old coffee jars to pickle onions in, so I'll need to get a Mason jar.

But is there vinegar involved? Did you forget to mention it?

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Hi definitely no vinegar it's the salt that does the work and helps the good bacteria to thrive and give you gut health benefits and the sour\sharp taste. Because it's not a vinegar product you need to make sure you introduce flavour - things like ginger or turmeric or garlic or for a spicier one chillies or chilli flakes. The bacteria and salt do the preservation work not vinegar.
're the jars coffee jars if sterilized they would be fine it's more that one wider jar makes it easier to pack and look after while they are fermenting but as long as you follow the rules making sure each jars veggies are kept under the brine and lid only loosely placed until ready it should work fine.
Hope you enjoy making it if you have a go.

IanBish said:

Thanks. The coffee jars have long been given away or recycled, so I'll get a Mason jar.

I'll definitely give it a go. I'm thinking cabbage with grated carrot flavoured with chilli flakes for starters.

One other question: what do you mean by good quality salt?

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I use ground sea salt or sea salt flakes - some table salts have additives. Check label if it's just ground salt or salt flakes or crystals you grind yourself will be fine. At end of the day would probably work with a cheap salt but I prefer to use one without the anti caking additive.

I made a new sauerkraut today and thought it may be helpful to put a few pics on here and I also weighed my veggies. I always weigh the cabbage to work out salt 2% quantity but judge others by eye however I weighed today to help others and after pushing into jar plenty of space at top of the one litre kilner jar I use - as a guide to others doing for first time
450g of white cabbage and 9g of sea salt flakes
150g of speciality French radish - both red and white
50g of organic celery - 2 sticks
40g of trimmed and peeled spring onions - 4 spring onions
50g of ginger root.

First two photos cabbage before massaging and afterwards

Next pic before putting in jar so all veggies chopped and added plus ginger root

Last pic of filled jar - used a couple of cabbage leaves to keep veggies under the brine. For my covering I use some Muslin as it is not sealed until fully fermented. You can use another breathable cover such as a piece of kitchen towel

Now it's stored in kitchen out of direct sunlight until it's ready I'd guess a week but will check in a few days
I'd guess if you like weighing you could make total of veggies up to about 900g and still get it in the one litre jar provided thinly sliced or chopped.

hope you can see them! One day in and bubbles just starting to appear under cabbage leaves which shows good bacteria already thriving

MrsA2 said:

I started my first ever batch today, but only one jar. Used 200g hard white cabbage, 4g sea salt, half a small red pepper, pinch of chilli flakes, some grated ginger and grated turmeric, good pinch of dried seaweed.
Fingers crossed.
Needed quite a bit of water to cover the veg
@shelley262 does the jar have to be full to the top, like in normal chutney preserving?

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No you dont need to fill to the top - in fact its good to leave some headroom but you do need to make sure that your veggies are pressed down and covered with brine - really submerged under the water. It may be that the dried seaweed and dried chilli flakes you used meant that it absorbed the water that you massaged out of your cabbage. My suerkraut is already ready it has matured in under a week and is now sealed and in the fridge. I had a lot of water from my veggies but really massaged the cabbage and also used radishes which I think are quite high water content.
Sounds like a lovely mix you used let us know how it goes - look out for the bubbles that show it is working its magic.