Re: Faecal Microbiota Transplantation
Originally Posted by
Silver Tabby
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Thank you, Realist, would you share your recipe with me?
Does it work with red cabbage as well as white?
Hi Tabby
It's not really a recipe TBH but here's what you need.
First you need to buy some special lids for Kilner/Mason jars. These lids have a little one way air valve in them which allows air to escape OUT of the jar but does not allow air to come in.
I bought 6 lids from STERILOCK here:
www.sterilock.co.uk
You can buy just the lids or jars and lids as a kit.
My Ingredients
One or more standard white round cabbages
2 or 3 fennel bulbs
Some caraway seeds
Good Sea Salt (I use Maldon)
You don't have to have all the above. You can start with just cabbage and no fennel or seeds. Just personal choice.
Method
First you sterilise your Kilner jars. Give them a good wash, then put about 1cm of water in each one and put them in the oven on a high temperature (maybe 140 C) until the water has boiled off. Leave them to cool naturally.
Now chop up the cabbage and fennel into lots of small pieces about 1cm to 2cm in size. It's personal choice again.
Get a large round bowl or clean plastiic tub.
Sprinkle in a layer of the cabbage and fennel, then sprinkle sea salt over it liberally, then sprinkle more cabbage/fennel then more sea salt and so on until it's all in the bowl.
Get your hands in and give the whole thing a good mix.
Cover the bowl and leave it for 30 mins or so
After the 30 mins you will find that there is some liquid in the bottom of the bowl. Just a bit. The salt is drawing out the natural liquid from the vegetables.
Use a rolling pin or just your hands to pummel the cabbage hard to try and squeee out as much more liquid as possible from the cabbage. You need to be bruising it, mashing it down. A solid wooden rolling pin works well for this. I then get my hands in and again squeeze it all hard.
Leave the whole thing for another 15 mins or so and go do the whole thing again. Getting more and more liquid squeezed out. If needed, leave another 15 mins.
Eventually you have a bowl of chopped cabbage sitting in lots of lovely salty liquid
Throw in the caraway seeds at this point if you are using them and give it a good mix. You don't need many seeds, maybe a teaspoonful.
Now start to load your kilner jar.
Put about 2 inches of cabbage in the jar then use something wooden to ram it down tight and compact like the back of a wooden spoon. Pour in a little of the liquid from the bowl so it is all moist.
Then add another 2 inches of cabbage and ram it down tight and add a little more of the juice.
Repeat until you are about 2 to 3 inches from the top of the jar.
DO NOT fill the jar completely because the whole thing is going to expand during fermentation.
When you get to the top add in more juice so that there is about 1cm of it on top. It is important that ALL of the cabbage is underwater.
If you find that you don't have enough juice then just get some water, mix in some sea salt and add that.
Now screw on your special air valve lid and put the jar in a cool shaded place out of the sun.
Repeat for other jars depending on how much you made.
You CAN use just about any vegetable. Red cabbage is perfect, so are fennel, chopped radishes and so on. They all have Nature's wild bacteria and yeasts on them.
Now we leave the jar to naturally ferment for about 4 to 6 weeks.
Periodically (like every few days) open up the jar and you will find that the cabbage has risen right to the top and is out of the liquid. Use your wooden spoon to ram it back down tight. Ensure that everything is beneath the juice. Over the first 2 weeks you will see there are lots of fermenting bubbles in the jar. A good sign.
Don't worry about air getting in to the jar when you open it. The fermentation will push it back out soon enough.
After 4 to 6 weeks the sauerkraut should be ready and you can open it and have a taste. Like all fermented products a tang will develop over time. The longer you leave it the more tangy it will become.
If you are happy with the taste then you can transfer the jar to the fridge and consume the sauerkraut over time. It will last weeks and weeks.
Experiment with different vegetables and combinations.
Anything goes really. Google "fermenting vegetables" for lots of ideas.
Any questions just ask.
Realist