RED CABBAGE, ARAME & GINGER KRAUT

Prep: 15 mins. Fermenting: 7–30 days. Makes 1.5L.

¼ cup arame threads (available from

health food stores and online)

2kg head red cabbage

2cm knob ginger, chopped finely

or grated

40g fine sea salt

1 Soak arame threads in a bowl with plenty of warm water for 15 mins. Meanwhile, trim and quarter cabbage, removing fibrous core. Chop cabbage into 3mm-thick slices and place in a large bowl. Add ginger and sea salt. Rub salt into cabbage, scrunching mix firmly, until cabbage has released plenty of liquid. Strain arame and discard soaking water. Mix arame into cabbage very well.

2 Take a clean 1.5L jar with lid and fill completely with cabbage mixture. Push cabbage down very firmly ( see tip). Top up with more cabbage, pressing down some more to ensure that it is submerged in the liquid. Make sure to leave at least 2cm of space between liquid and rim of jar. Use a vegetable stopper or an airlock lid, or simply press vegetables under their liquid and close lid tightly. Label jar and stand on a plate or tray. Leave in a cool place to ferment for 7–30 days.

3 Gradually, you will notice bubbles, a few at first and then masses. The bubbles will begin to subside and this is the point at which you can start tasting the kraut.

I like this best after a month or so, when the cabbage is really quite sour, but keep tasting until you are happy with the flavour, then store in fridge for up to 12 months.

TIP Stand the jar on the floor and use your clean fist and body weight to lean on the vegetables in order to compress and submerge them.