Ingredients for a big pot¹
1 large cabbage² (e.g. white cabbage, pointed cabbage, savoy cabbage, but red cabbage is also delicious!)
Salt
If the cabbage leaves are very dirty, remove them.
Then take off 1 more large leaf and keep it aside (if you’re using a fermenting kit like me, you can skip this step).
Cut the cabbage in half and remove the middle hard core. Finely chop the rest of the cabbage with a sharp knife or grate it finely in a food processor.
You add about 20 grams of salt per kilo of cabbage. Multiply the amount of cabbage you have in grams by 0.02. When I made this recipe I used 1000 grams of savoy cabbage, but I also added 177 grams of grated carrot for this pot, so; 1177 x 0.02 = 23.5. Then you add 23.5 grams of salt (a little more or a little less doesn’t matter).
Add the cabbage (plus any other vegetables) to a large bowl. Add the salt and start kneading / massaging the vegetables. You will notice after 10 minutes that the cabbage begins to lose moisture. Then let it stand for 30 min.
After this 30 min knead and massage the vegetables again for 10 min and let it rest again. Now repeat this step 1 more time and you will notice that the vegetable has lost quite a bit of moisture (which is exactly the intention).
Now put the vegetables in a large glass jar and press the vegetables well. If the vegetable is not completely covered by the liquid, add some of the liquid; the vegetables must be covered with liquid!
The large cabbage leaf that you set aside at the beginning is now used to cover the cabbage. Gently fold the edges of the large cabbage leaf around the chopped cabbage so that they point towards the bottom of the pot. If you’re using a fermenting kit like me, now’s the time to put the glass weight on the veggies.
Make sure there are no loose pieces of vegetables floating on top, if this is the case? then remove those pieces. If you don’t do this, mold can form on those pieces!
Now put the lid loosely on the pot, do not tighten, because then you create a fermentation bomb! I now put the silicone cap on the pot.
Now put the pot away on your counter for about 2 weeks. Check regularly whether everything is still under the moisture and you do not see any mold or the like.
After 2 weeks you can start tasting. If the taste is not quite right in your opinion, you can leave it for another week. I always take 2 weeks.
If the taste is completely satisfactory, you can remove the large leaf/or weight, turn the lid on normally and put it in the fridge!
Now the fun can begin!
Enjoy your dinner!
If you’ve tried this recipe, leave a comment below and/or tag me on your social media (@thepurplelife).
¹ I usually have 1 jar of 1 lt and another smaller jar
² For this recipe I used a savoy cabbage of about 1 kg.