I love fermented foods, and this fermented cabbage recipe makes a crunchy, delicious side dish. It’s easy to make, and keeps for weeks. Plus mine’s purple!
Fermented foods are good for our digestive health, because they help keep our intestinal flora in balance.
Of course, I love this fermented cabbage recipe because it tastes great.
Purple fermented cabbage recipe
Makes 1 huge jar of fermented cabbage (about 8 cups/2 liters).
You will need:
A food processor, or knife and cutting board
A large jar (eg Mason jar) with a small glass dish or jar that fits inside
Ingredients
- 1 small head of purple cabbage
- 3 cups/720ml water
- 1/2 an apple, peeled, cored and chopped
- 1 tablespoon salt
- ¾ tablespoon dill seed
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
How you do it
Shred the cabbage in a food processor (you can toss the apple in too to save time).
Put it in a large glass bowl and add everything except the water. Mix well.
Pour the water over the cabbage – it should be clean, filtered water – so that all of the cabbage is covered.
Place a plate over the cabbage and press down. The idea is to find a glass bowl/plate combination that will enable you to compress the cabbage into the bottom of the bowl while not leaving too much room around the sides.
Place a heavy object such as a clean stone or brick on the plate to keep the weight on the cabbage. I used a glass bowl that I filled with clean rocks.
Strain off any excess water, leaving just enough to cover the cabbage. Cover the whole thing with a fine cloth or piece of muslin and place in a cool area away from direct sunlight (I keep mine in my garage).
Check the cabbage periodically, pressing down and removing any excess water while still keeping it just covered.
After about 2-3 days (depending upon how strong a flavour you want), your cabbage will be ready!
Skim off any flowery mould from the top (this means good stuff is happening, not to worry!), drain off all the water and put your cabbage into a clean glass jar.
Enjoy as is or with salads – it’s a bit of work, but your digestive tract will thank you for all those healthy flora!
Rocking Raw Chef tips
- Your purple fermented cabbage will keep for weeks in the refrigerator.
- I used purple cabbage for this recipe, but any cabbage will do.
- You could add in shredded carrot, and/or change the spices to suit your taste.
Want more recipes like this?
More gorgeous side dish recipes are in my 5-Minute Soups & Sides, along with recipes for Succulent ‘Shrooms, Sage and Onion Plantains, Rainbow ‘Rice’, and more.
Enjoy your purple fermented cabbage recipe!
And of course, let me know what you think in the comments!
