Tex-Mex holiday kraut

[texashuman]

This was one of my early forays beyond plain ordinary sauerkraut using the double vase container you can see in the link in my intro post.

Red cabbage, Rough cut.
Red Onion. Rough cut.
Yellow bell pepper. Medium cut. (max 1/2" pieces)
Serrano Peppers. Largest I could find. 99% de-seeded. Medium cut.
Carrots. Medium cubed. (Put in for Turkey day, leave out for X-mas)

I don't measure or test taste. I am a food adventurer so I like to be surprised and disturbing it to test taste disturbs the layer of CO2 that collects on top of the brine allowing O2 to promote mold.

I chop everything into a medium size plastic dishpan in the sink and toss to mix.
I use a ground beef chopper as my beater.
I use kosher large grain sea salt.
Sprinkle with the salt (guessing 1/2 teaspoon)
Beat well then toss again.
Sprinkle with the salt.
Beat well then toss again.
Repeat (usually 3-4 times) or until liquid is visible in the bottom of the dish pan.
Scoop into the tall vase mashing down with the beater regularly.
Pour in the liquid from the dishpan.
Use some saved large leaves to cover.
Fit the hourglass vase into the leaves and mash down well. Add 1-2 cups water to the hourglass vase to weight.
Allow to stand on the counter at least a hour to see if enough brine forms naturally to cover the top. I have never needed to make and add brine.
Put the shower cap on it. Date it and move it to your fermenting location. I have the small refrigerator with the external temp control you can see in the link in my Intro Post.
I set my calendar for 4 weeks and forget it just checking the external temp reading daily.
Makes a spicy red, yellow-white pink-white (the red from the cabbage tends to cancel the yellow in the bell pepper so it looks kind'a white and the red almost completely leaves the red onion leaving more kind'a white bits) and green with bits of orange holiday dish. People that don't like kraut rave about it at holiday pitch in dinners. They think it is a salty salsa.

[Christopher Weeks]

Neat! I used a bunch of serranos in my last kraut-chi because they grew much more abundantly than my gochus did. It was a lot spicier because of it.

If I were going to follow your recipe, I'd just have to add garlic. :-)

[texashuman]

I'd just have to add garlic

Not a fan of garlic in my kraut. BUT, turnips (small ones are sweet, big ones are bitter), daikon radish, parsnips, shallots.. Oooohhh Yeahhhh.

Forgot to list fresh ginger..