Adding fruit to your cultured vegetables gives them extra food and speeds up the fermentation time.
Servings: 40
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
2 pounds shredded cabbage approx. 8 cups of loosely shredded cabbage
2/3 cup small preferably wild blueberries
1 cup shredded spinach or kale
30g Himalayan salt
1/2 tsp culture starter (optional)
4 cups filtered water
measuring cup to create the brine
2-L glass mason jar with BPA free lid or another fermenting jar or crock of choice.
I use a fermenting lid with water air lock (optional)
Instructions
Boil a kettle with water. Let rest 20 minutes then pour 4 cups of the water into your measuring cup and add the 30g of salt. Stir and set aside to cool while you prepare your veggies.
Using a food processor with shredder blade, a grater or a sharp knife, shred, grate or chop the cabbage and spinach and toss with blueberries. Set aside.
Scoop mixture into the mason jar just to the shoulder and gently pack down.
Pour culture starter into the jar.
Add the brine and cover by one inch over the cabbage mixture. You do not want the brine hot but lukewarmly is just fine, room temperature is perfect.
Place Tattler lid with water air lock or BPA plastic lid and close tightly. If using a crock, follow manufacturer's instructions.
Protect from light and let sit on the counter, on a plate to catch overflow, covered with a towel for 5-7 days (blueberries ferment faster so you'll want to get this into the fridge by day 7 even in winter months when the kitchen is cooler you do not need to go longer.
Because cabbage can expand during fermentation, you may want to put a plate or tray under your jar to catch any overflow.
It is best to NOT open you jar for the first 3 days, even if it is overflowing. This is when your good bacteria is over throwing the bad, so adding air during this initial ferment can hinder the lactic acid bacteria from doing its job. After 3 days, if you need to open and press the cabbage back down below the brine, go ahead and do that, then wipe down the jar and lid and re-seal for the rest of the fermentation time.
After 5-7 days at room temperature, place in the fridge. I often leave my airlock on to keep histamine levels at their lowest, at least for the first 30 days, but most remove and put on the BPA plastic lid for fridge storage.
This ferment can be enjoyed right away, but the flavour develops more over time. It is at its peak in two weeks.
Lasts in the fridge for up 9 months.