Curtido: El Salvadoran Cabbage Ferment

Curtido makes an excellent garnish for fish, pork or veggie tacos, or for tortilla soup or posole. Also, serve it over grains, eggs or beans; use it to make a savory baked tart; or add to spice up a dish of choucroute garnie, an Alsatian recipe for sauerkraut served with sausages.

Curtido: El Salvadoran Cabbage Ferment

Votes: 0
Rating: 0
You:

Rate this recipe!

Servings

24 people

Print Recipe

Ingredients

• 1/2 head organic green cabbage, outer leaves peeled off, cored and chopped into long, thin slices
• 3 teaspoons fine sea salt (Celtic or Himalayan noniodized salt), divided
• 2 organic carrots, unpeeled, quartered, and thinly sliced or grated (½ cup)
• 1/3 cup diced yellow onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon red chile flakes or ½ jalapeño pepper, diced
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano

Ingredients 1/2 head organic green cabbage, outer leaves peeled off, cored and chopped into long, thin slices 3 teaspoons fine sea salt (Celtic or Himalayan noniodized salt), divided 2 organic carrots, unpeeled, quartered, and thinly sliced or grated (½ cup) 1/3 cup diced yellow onion 1 clove garlic, minced 1 teaspoon red chile flakes or ½ jalapeño pepper, diced 1 tablespoon dried oregano

Servings 24 people Print Recipe

Instructions

1. Place the cabbage in a large bowl. Add 1 teaspoon salt, and use your hands to massage the cabbage until it begins to soften and release liquid, about 3 minutes. Add the remaining vegetables and spices and another 1 teaspoon salt to the cabbage. Wear gloves to prevent staining hands. Continue to massage the cabbage mixture, crunching and squeezing the vegetables and spices until well combined, about 3 minutes more. Taste the mixture and, if desired, add the final 1 teaspoon salt. (TIP: You want the mixture to be salty but not quite as salty as seawater.)
2. When mixture is well combined, begin to spoon it into a 24-ounce glass mason jar or other sterilized glass fermentation vessel. After every couple spoonfuls, use a wooden tamper to pound the mixture tightly into the jar. (TIP: Tightly pack the kraut mixture to eliminate trapped air bubbles.)
3. Continue to pack and fill the vessel until 1–1½ inches of headspace remain at top. Pour any liquid from the cabbage mixture bowl into the jar. You want a thin (about ½-inch) layer of liquid on top of the kraut. (TIP: Keep the kraut below the brine. If you don’t have enough liquid, simply add a little purified water. A glass weight can keep the kraut submerged.)
4. Wipe the inside lip of the jar to remove any stray cabbage pieces or liquid. Then cover jar tightly with a regular or airlock lid. Set jar in a dark, cool place to ferment for 2–4 weeks. Taste each week to check on fermentation process. When fermented to desired taste, place a new lid on the jar, mark it with the date, and store in refrigerator up to 1 year.
5. Makes 16–24 ounces (1–1.5 pints); Prep 30 minutes; Fermentation 2–4 weeks