A healthy gut does much in maintaining a healthy body, mind and spirit. For example, did you know that the gut comprises 85% of our immune system? If our digestive tract isn’t operating properly, it can cause a lot of problems. The main reason we need to eat and drink is because we need to obtain the nutrients and enzymes contained in the foods and drinks to give us energy and provide the nutrition our body needs to maintain good health. If our digestive tract isn’t operating optimally, the foods we consume won’t be digested properly and the nutrients won’t be absorbed as they should. Taking vitamins would be useless as they won’t be absorbed properly or not at all. Even over the counter and prescription medicines won’t be absorbed and utilized properly if the gut is not healthy.This Kimchi Sauerkraut is very versatile. It goes well with any dish and keeps well in the fridge.
I’ve obtained this recipe for Kimchi Sauerkraut from the Nourishing Traditions Cookbook, by Sally Fallon Morell. This is my all time go to cookbook. I highly recommend this cookbook as it contains a plethora of recipes and useful information.
Kimchi Sauerkraut is low in Saturated Fat, and very low in Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Vitamin B6 and Iron, and a very good source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Folate and Manganese. Cabbage being in the cruciferous vegetable family, is touted as a cancer preventive.
What you’ll need:
Large mixing bowl
Meat pounder
One head of Nappa cabbage
Carrots
Scallions (green onions)
Salt (I use Himalayan pink salt)
Whey (optional)
Ginger
Red chile flakes
Take the head of nappa cabbage, remove the core and shred the cabbage. I used to shred and chop it by hand as shown below.
However my arthritis gets the best of me sometimes, so I now use my food processor. Either way you do it is fine.
Chop or shred a cup of carrots. Again, this picture shows it done by hand, but with the food processor, it comes out much finer.
Place all in a large mixing bowl and add a
Tblsp. grated fresh ginger
3 cloves minced garlic
4 Tblsps. whey and
1 Tblsp. salt.
You can use the whey leftover from making your own yogurt (check out my recipe for culturing your own yogurt). Also, if you buy plain yogurt, there is always whey that separates from the rest of the yogurt. Spoon it out and collect it in a small jar. Keep accumulating it little by little and keep it in the fridge. It will keep for 6 months and comes in really handy for recipes like this or for the Homemade Lacto Fermented Ketchup.
Please note that if you don’t have whey, and you haven’t made your own yogurt yet, you can just add an extra Tblsp. Salt. Take a meat pounder or with your clean bare hand mash it down.
After you’ve mashed it down, transfer it into quart sized mason jars. Press it down firmly with the pounder until the liquid rises to the top of the cabbage mixture.
Vegetables should be at least one inch below the top of jar.
Here’s the recipe!
Kimchi – Korean Sauerkraut
Ingredients:
- 1 Head of Nappa Cabbage cored and shredded or chopped
- 1 Bunch of Green Onions (Scallions) chopped
- 1 Cup Carrots shredded
- 1 Tbsp freshly grated Ginger
- 3 Cloves Garlic peeled and minced
- 1/2 tsp Dried Chile flakes
- 1 Tbsp Sea Salt (I use Himalayan Pink Salt)
- 4 Tbsps Whey (if not available, use an extra Tbsp salt)
Instructions:
- Place all the vegetables, ginger, garlic, red chile flakes, sea salt and whey in a bowl. Pound with a wooden pounder or meat hammer to release juices.
- Place in quart sized wide mouth mason jars and press down firmly with the pounder or meat hammer until the juices come to the top of the cabbage mixture.
- The top of the vegetables should be at least one inch below the top of the jar.
- Cover the jar(s) tightly keep at room temerature for about 3 days, before transferring them to cold storage.
Well, there you have it. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my family and I do. Leave me your reviews/suggestions/questions below. I’d love to hear from you.
Bon Appetit!!