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Eduardo Garcia's Pink Sauerkraut

Pink Sauerkraut

byEduardo Garcia
Total 6 days to 2 weeks (depending on desired fermenting time)
Active 15 mins
Makes 1 quart
TIP: This is not a difficult recipe, but time consuming, with lots of shredding of vegetables.
Special Equipment
a mandoline, mason jars with screw-top lids
Special Equipment
a mandoline, mason jars with screw-top lids
Ingredients
  • 5 pounds red cabbage (about 2 small heads)
  • 2 pounds green cabbage (about 1/2 a large head)
  • 2 large carrots, scrubbed
  • 8 cloves garlic
  • 1/4 cup plus 1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
    Directions
    1. Thoroughly wash all the vegetables and pat dry with paper towels. Remove the outer leaves of the cabbages and reserve. Finely shred or chop the red cabbage, green cabbage, carrots, and garlic. Add the vegetables to a large bowl and season with some of the salt. Start with 3 tablespoons and taste after the next step. (You can always add more but you can’t take it away when it comes to kraut.)
    2. Massage the cabbage mixture roughly with your hands. You want to soften the texture and start to release the juices naturally from the vegetables. Taste the cabbage here and see if it needs more salt. Massage in the caraway seeds. When the cabbage is soft enough that it releases juice like water from a wet sponge, you are ready to pack your jars.
    3. Pack the vegetables into jars, pressing down firmly to extract the water. Pour any remaining liquid over the top. Press the cabbage down to remove any air pockets and to cover the cabbage with its own liquid. Fold one of the extra outer leaves to fit each jar snugly. Press it on top of the chopped cabbage to keep it submerged in the liquid and place a heavy object on top of the leaves.
    4. Loosely cover and allow the cabbage to ferment for 6 to 7 days in the refrigerator then give it a taste. If you like your cabbage lightly fermented, you may want to stop it at that point by placing a tight-fitting lid on each jar and storing in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. If you happen to notice any surface growth, you will need to discard the batch.