Curtido ( for 1l jar)

Ingredients

• 1 large cabbage (you can also use Chinese cabbage) sliced 3 cm, stems 1 cm. Keep end as a weight
• 3 spring onions in slices including greens –  or 1 small red onion 
• 3 carrots – grated
• 1 garlic clove crushed
• 1 red chilli deseeded and finely sliced (or to taste…)
• Juice of 1 juicy or 2 not so juice limes
• 2 tbsp dried oregano 
• Salt – 2% w/v 

 

Method

1. Clean surfaces and hands.
2. Wash your vegetables to remove surface dirt and prepare as directed.   
3. Place a very large bowl on your weighing scale and set to zero.  
4. Add all of the ingredients except for the salt to the bowl and note the weight.
5. For every 100g of vegetables you are going to add 2g of salt.  So if your vegetables weigh 1000g you will need 20g salt.
6. Add the salt then mix everything together well using either your hands or a spoon., then cover and leave for about an hour to let the salt draw the water out of the vegetables, or if you are in a hurry you can use your hands sauerkraut style. 
7. If there is masses of juice, strain off some of the liquid and keep to top up the jar if necessary. 
8. Add lime juice and oregano to the cabbage mixture.
9. Transfer the vegetables and the brine to fermentation vessel, tightly packing the vegetables to eliminate any air pockets. 
10. If the liquid doesn’t cover the vegetables, add your saved brine to shoulder height in the jar.
11. To keep the curtido submerged, push your saved end of cabbage down on top, below the brine – all being well it will be big enough to fit snuggly against the sides of the jar. If not, use a plastic lid, sterilised stone in a bag or plastic lid.
12. Place your ferment out of direct sunlight at room temperature, sitting on a plate or tray in case the brine spills over.  
13. Your curtido will be ready somewhere between 3 and 8 days – depending upon the cabbage used. The flavour will continue to develop as it sits in the fridge over the coming weeks.  It will last at least 6 months.