Ingredients
- 1 red cabbage (about 700g), finely shredded (about 1/8 to 1/4-inch thick)
- 20g coarse sea salt
- 100g apple, thinly sliced
- 100g red onion, thinly sliced
- 100g pomegranate arils (pomegranate seeds)
Instructions
- Put the finely shredded red cabbage into a large bowl and sprinkle it with salt.
- Massage and squeeze the cabbage with your hands to work the salt into it. It should gradually soften, become translucent, and release its liquid after about 5 minutes.
- Once the cabbage has released a significant amount of liquid and becomes very soft, mix the apple, onion, and pomegranate seeds into the cabbage.
- Transfer the mixture to a quart mason jar, using your fist or kraut tamper to pack it in (up to the shoulders of the jar), pressing firmly to release more liquid. Make sure the kraut is submerged completely below the brine using a fermentation weight or a cabbage leaf or two. If necessary, add some brine from the bottom of the bowl.
- Seal the jar. If your lid does not have an airlock, burp daily to release built up gases. Taste at about two weeks (or when fermentation activity slows down) to see if you like it. If it is not “sour” enough yet (or tastes too raw/salty), let it ferment another couple days, then taste again. Three weeks was just about perfect for us, but let your taste buds guide you!
Notes
- Every cabbage will be a slightly different size – just adjust the ratios to suit your cabbage. This recipe (and fermentation in general) is very forgiving, as long as you get the salt right. The key is to use about 2% salt by weight of the other ingredients.
- I love a long ferment for the flavor, but it’s hard to be patient! For me, the best balance between flavor and time is just a bit after the fermentation activity slows down (less bubbles, color has finished changing), at around 2-3 weeks depending on the temperature of my kitchen.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Fermentation Time: 2-3 weeks
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Category: Side Dishes
- Method: Fermentation
- Cuisine: German