Well, the middle of last week I put my one gallon of sauerkraut into mason jars and stored it in the fridge. It had been fermenting for 30 days in the kitchen.
This past weekend I decided that I was going to prepare a dish using a quart of the kraut. I was torn between doing ribs or Kielbasi sausage.
I settled on both ribs and Kielbasi. I browned the ribs in a big cast iron dutch oven with bacon fat...er..drippings. Then I cut up one monster white onions on top of the ribs and cooked that for about 10 minutes. I added the "homemade" kraut, placed the Kielbasi on top of the kraut and dusted it all with Cavender's seasoning. The final addition was a bottle of beer (I used Heineken since that was what I had). I put the cover on and let it simmer for about an hour. I turned the heat off and left the cover on for another hour.
This was some serious good eating and desert was a.............Kimchi doughnut.....
Really I didn't have a Kimchi doughnut but since I now also have an abundance of Kimchi, I may try to make some.
This is pretty close to the procedure I followed for the kraut making:
and the kraut was done after 30 days? i thought it took a few months. Will it only be getting better as it sits?
Sounds good. now I am hungry.
> Sounds good. now I am hungry.
I was thinking the same thing. Now I want a chocolate bar & glazed donut!! 😛
Actually, I think it more depends on the temperature at which the kraut ferments. Some people start eating it after a week or so. In the old days a family would probably have several five gallon crocks and they would have kraut at various stages.
My understanding is that the longer it ferments, the "flatter" the taste gets. I have three quarts in the fridge now and any additional fermentation will be very, very slow.
Fermented cabbage is perfect for replenishing the good bacteria in the intestinal tract.
Here is a link that describes rejuvenation of the intestinal bacterial:
http://www.lookgreat-loseweight-savemoney.com/intestinal-bacteria.html
I've tried the cabbage water before (worked like a charm) and it seems to me that the kraut (especially uncooked kraut) would be just as good.
> how cool! now i gotta try that.
> there is a very interesting history of kraut (and it's french cousins) in that recent history book ccalld "salt- a history - the rock we eat".
> rmeinds me, i need to fix up a batch of our family masala to ship to you in exchange for that excellent "the sauce".
> we're also a big kimchee consuming family as well, but haven't tried to make it yet.
I look forward to trying your family masala. As for the making kimchi, it's really pretty simple. Here is the YouTube link that I used to get started:
Kimchi is one of those foods that is made many different ways, with many different veggies. However, the Napa cabbage is still my favorite in kimchi.
The batch of kimchi that I have in the fridge now has Napa cabbage, spring onions, carrots and daikon radish in it. I didn't use raw oysters (the Koreans love the flavor that they lend to kimchi) but I did use a fish sauce that had whole minnows 🙂 in it. It's probably beginners luck but it's some of the best kimchi I've ever had.
