Sauerkraut is basically fermented
cabbage. Sounds like
good food to me! It is believed to have originated in
China during the building of the
Great Wall to supplement the almost all
rice diet of the workers. Sauerkraut is incredibly
easy to make given the
patience and proper equipment. It basically involves drawing the moisture out of the cabbage.
Bacteria then eat the sugars and release
lactic accid.
To start, you need some cabbage. Remove the outer leaves and shred or cut the cabbage into thin strands. Rinse this well in cold water several times to remove any dirt. Next you will need a crock or food grade plastic container. They also sell special containers for this which have a stopper, you might want to consider using one of these to simplify the weighting process. You should not use a metal container as the acids produced may damage it as well as make your Sauerkraut taste really bad. In a large bowl, mix the cabbage with coarse (kosher or sea) salt. You'll need a little less than 1/3 cup per 5 lbs of cabbage. Once it is well mixed, add the cabbage to your crock/container a few inches at a time. Press each layer down with a lot of pressure, this should release juices. Do one layer at a time until all the cabbage is in the crock.
Once you are finished, the juice should be above the top of the cabbage. If not, as it frequently won't be, you'll need to add a brine. Boil 4 cups of water with 1.5 tablespoons of salt to make the brine and allow it to cool completely. Add to crock until it completely covers the cabbage. Now you are ready to weight down the cabbage. If you can't find a plate or disk that will fit, fill a bag with water and arrange it to completely cover the surface. If there is exposure to air, mold may grow on the surface (this can be skimmed off). Seal the top of the crock with plastic wrap and set it in a cool place out of the light.
Now you are ready to let it sit. At room temperature (70-75 F) it will take 3-4 weeks. It's done when there are no more bubbles in the pot and no bubbles come to the surface when you tap on the pot.
Serve cold for crunchy tart kraut, or cook to make it more mild. Enjoy!
On a side note, Sauerkraut has almost no nutritional value... One cup of it has about 40 calories and a tiny bit of dietary fiber, some sodium, and not much else...