EASY Spicy Sauerkraut 4 Ways! | Homemade Spicy Sauerkraut with a Kimchi Vibe!

[00:00] hey everyone i'm erica from the blog

[00:01] buttered side up and today i'm going to

[00:03] show you how to make spicy sauerkraut

[00:05] four ways i have two that have more of a

[00:07] neutral flavor

[00:08] and then two that have more of a crouchy

[00:11] vibe with

[00:12] ginger and garlic added now all four

[00:14] versions start with the same method for

[00:16] preparing the cabbage

[00:17] before you do anything else to it weigh

[00:19] your cabbage then you'll want to wash it

[00:21] remove any wilted or brown leaves from

[00:24] the outside

[00:25] cut out the core and rinse it thoroughly

[00:28] letting the water run between the leaves

[00:32] [Music]

[00:35] drain well pull off

[00:38] one of the outer leaves and set it aside

[00:41] you'll see why you need this later

[00:43] finely chop the cabbage

[00:44] i like to shred it with a food processor

[00:46] this not only saves

[00:48] time it also tends to make the cabbage

[00:50] juicier in my experience

[00:52] place the cabbage in a large bowl

[00:56] and sprinkle the salt on top make sure

[00:58] that you use unrefined sea salt

[01:00] i use red mint sea salt personally but

[01:02] you could also use

[01:03] himalayan pink salt or celtic sea salt

[01:06] let the cabbage sit for 15 minutes

[01:08] then get in there with your hands and

[01:10] massage the cabbage for five minutes

[01:14] this encourages the cabbage to release

[01:16] its moisture which is what will act as

[01:18] the brine for your sauerkraut

[01:20] [Music]

[01:22] now it's at this point that you're going

[01:23] to add in the other ingredients that

[01:25] will determine

[01:26] the flavor profile for version one add

[01:28] in a shredded carrot and a sliced

[01:30] jalapeno

[01:31] you can adjust the spice level by how

[01:33] well you clean your jalapeno

[01:35] so if you make sure to remove all of the

[01:36] seeds and all of that white membrane it

[01:38] won't be that spicy but if you leave all

[01:40] that in it will definitely have a

[01:42] spicier flavor for version two

[01:44] add half a teaspoon of crushed red

[01:46] pepper flakes and a shredded carrot

[01:48] this version definitely has the most

[01:50] neutral flavor profile

[01:51] and we found that it was less spicy than

[01:53] the jalapeno version but of course you

[01:55] can ramp up the spice by increasing the

[01:57] amount of crushed red pepper flakes

[01:59] for version number three add a shredded

[02:01] carrot one tablespoon of minced ginger

[02:03] a clove of garlic two green onions and

[02:06] three tablespoons of gochugaru

[02:08] or korean red pepper flakes this version

[02:11] definitely has

[02:12] more of a crouchy flavor profile now if

[02:14] you want that crouchy flavor but you

[02:16] don't have any kochikaru on hand

[02:18] you can make version number three add a

[02:20] shredded carrot one tablespoon of ginger

[02:22] two cloves of garlic three quarters

[02:24] teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes

[02:26] and half of a red onion that's been

[02:28] thinly sliced

[02:29] okay so now we've gone over the four

[02:31] different flavor profiles and let's get

[02:33] on to packing this into jars

[02:34] once you have all the ingredients well

[02:36] mixed you can pack it into

[02:38] a sterile quart jar to sterilize your

[02:40] jar pour boiling water into it

[02:42] [Music]

[02:43] now with very clean hands pack the

[02:45] sauerkraut into the jar

[02:47] pressing firmly down

[02:53] [Music]

[02:56] now take that cabbage leaf that you

[02:57] saved earlier and cut out a circle

[03:00] that's a little wider than your jar

[03:02] place it in the jar

[03:04] this keeps the cabbage submerged under

[03:06] the brine place a fermenting weight on

[03:08] top

[03:11] and make sure that your fermenting

[03:13] weight is sterile as well now a weight

[03:15] isn't 100 necessary but it does help to

[03:18] keep everything under the brine

[03:19] preventing mold

[03:21] loosely screw a plastic lid on top of

[03:23] the jar i don't recommend that you use a

[03:25] metal lid since it can rust

[03:27] i like to put my jars in a baking dish

[03:29] to catch any overflow that will most

[03:30] likely happen let the sauerkraut ferment

[03:33] in a warm spot out of direct sunlight

[03:35] until it's as sour as you like it

[03:37] i like to ferment mine for two weeks but

[03:39] of course this is going to change

[03:40] depending on how warm your kitchen is

[03:42] check in on your sauerkraut periodically

[03:44] to make sure that it's doing okay you

[03:46] want to check for any mold and you also

[03:47] want to make sure that the brine doesn't

[03:49] get too low if the brine goes below the

[03:51] vegetables then you can top it up with a

[03:53] two percent salt water solution

[03:55] all right so after two weeks you'll have

[03:57] some delicious spicy probiotic

[03:59] sauerkraut

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[04:07] thanks so much for watching see you next

[04:09] [Music]

[04:12] time

[04:16] i think that's everything i love this

[04:19] served a stir-fry