Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Remove the first couple of layers of cabbage leaves if they appear damaged or dirty. Then rinse the cabbage head.
- Be sure to set aside one of the cleanest and least damaged leaves. You will cut a wide-mouth mason jar circle out of this to use as a "covering" on top of your cabbage stuffed into the jar later. Give the leaf a good rinse too!
- Dice up or shred the cabbage as thinly as you can and put in a large mixing bowl.
- Next, sprinkle the cabbage with salt.
- Now use your hands or a pestle, if you have one, to work the cabbage in the bowl. You are bruising the cabbage leaves so it will release its water. This, with the salt, creates a brine for the cabbage to ferment in inside of the jar. This process can take several minutes.
- Next, scrap the sides of the bowl with a spoon or spatula to push down all the cabbage pieces into the bowl. Leave none behind!
- Grab a plate the size that covers the cabbage in the bowl and place it on top of the cabbage. Then add on layers of bowls or other plates to act as weight on the cabbage.
- Allowing the weighted down cabbage to sit for about 4-6 hours to macerate will produce more cabbage water.
- After 4-6 hours of sitting, remove the dishes and scrape off any cabbage back into the bowl.
- Give the cabbage a good stirring with a spoon then carefully add the cabbage to the wide mouth quart mason jar.
- Once all cabbage is in the jar, scrape any leaves off the sides of the jar as best you can then add the cut out cabbage leaf topper.
- Now add the ferment weight and a pickle pipe to the jar and allow the jar to sit to ferment for 3-4 weeks. Taste-testing or sampling for sourness may happen around day 12 if you desire.
Notes
Be sure to use a clean fork, clean hands, and replace every layer removed so further fermentation after taste testing as not to add any bad bacteria/germs to the food.
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