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–+ servings
Finished chopped sauerkraut with moist pale cabbage pieces in a ceramic bowl
Ebonie Garnica

Chopped Sauerkraut With Himalayan Salt

Small chopped cabbage pieces fermented with Himalayan salt after a 30-minute wilt and about five minutes of kneading. Allow roughly one week to one month for fermentation, plus preparation; the time displayed is a minimum rest-and-fermentation planning estimate.
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Rest + Ferment (Approximate Minimum) 7 days 30 minutes
Total Time 7 days 30 minutes
Servings: 1 batch; finished yield varies
Course: Condiment, Side Dish
Cuisine: GAPS
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 head fresh green cabbage reserve clean whole leaves for covering from the same head before chopping
  • 1 tablespoon plain Himalayan salt
  • filtered water only as needed to keep packed cabbage submerged

Equipment

  • Knife and cutting board
  • Large glass mixing bowl
  • Wooden spoon
  • Wide-mouth quart or pint glass jars as needed
  • Fermentation weights
  • Pressure-releasing lids or ordinary screw lids with pressure release
  • Tray for the jars

Method
 

  1. Remove damaged outer cabbage leaves and reserve clean whole leaves for covering the jars. Cut away the hard core and chop the cabbage into small leafy pieces rather than long ribbons.
  2. Mix the chopped cabbage and Himalayan salt in a large glass bowl with a wooden spoon or clean hands. Leave for about 30 minutes so the salt begins drawing out juice.
  3. Knead and squeeze with clean hands for about five minutes until the cabbage is wet and juice collects in the bowl. Work through the entire batch; a squeezed handful should release juice.
    Chopped cabbage after the salted rest and kneading, with juice in the glass bowl
  4. Pack firmly into clean wide-mouth glass jars in layers, pressing out large air pockets. Divide the juice from the bowl between the jars. Fold a reserved whole leaf over each jar and add a suitable fermentation weight. Keep the cabbage and cover leaf submerged. Add only enough filtered water if natural juice is insufficient, leaving about two inches of empty headspace.
    Chopped cabbage packed below brine and a glass weight in a quart jar beside the used mixing bowl
  5. Fit pressure-releasing fermentation lids or ordinary screw lids. With standard lids, briefly loosen daily during the first few days to release gas, then close again; continue checking as activity slows. Follow the airlock instructions if using one. Keep at room temperature out of direct sunlight and maintain submersion.
  6. For GAPS, allow roughly one week to one month, depending on temperature, until the kraut tastes sharply acidic and no more gas is coming from it. Refrigerate the completed cabbage with its brine and use a clean utensil to serve.

Notes

Time: Rest the salted cabbage about 30 minutes, then knead about five minutes. Allow additional chopping and packing time. Fermentation generally takes one week to one month; sharp acidity and stopped gas determine GAPS readiness. Displayed time is the shortest approximate rest-and-fermentation estimate.
Yield: One batch. The recipe estimates about 2½ quarts depending on head size, but actual yield varies. Use enough jars to keep about two inches of headspace.
Cut: This preparation uses small chopped leafy pieces, not a puree. Keep the cabbage pieces recognizable.
GAPS: Earlier Intro uses only juice from the completed ferment. Cabbage solids begin gradually at Stage 3 and continue through later Intro and Full GAPS.
Scaling: At 2× use two heads and two tablespoons Himalayan salt. Use more jars without reducing headspace. Rest and fermentation times do not simply double.
Storage: Refrigerate completed cabbage covered with its brine. Use clean utensils and keep the remaining cabbage submerged.

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