Eskimo Kraut?

[Guest guest]

Hello everyone,

Just joined and I am thrilled to have found this group!

I just love to create goodies in my kitchen and of course I always

have questions that arise. I do hope to find some of those answers

here.

My latest project...

I live in Alaska and have been studying books on our " wild edibles "

here on the island of Kodiak. After identifying and trying " Beach

Greens " (Honckenya peploides... Pink family (Carophyllaceae)) I also

learned that women here in Alaska like to use this plant in a kraut

version. (I have yet to meet any of these women!)

It is a somewhat sweet plant. Lovely, raw in salads.

I have gone out and collected about 5 lbs of these Beach Greens and

decided to try my hand at making this " Eskimo Kraut " .

Not having a recipe to follow, I just kind of jumped right in and

winged it. But now, I am not sure if I need to start over.

What I did was, I picked 5lbs...washed and weighed it.... and since

it is nothing like cabbage in a head, (but instead more similar to

Chickweed sortof)... I was not sure if I should shred it up small

like traditional cabbage. I did not. I did chop it up into smaller

pieces, but not shredded. I then measured out salt...3 Tabl.Pickling

Salt.... and added it loosely to the greens in a large bowl... I

mixed up the greens and then packed them into two large Kilner Jars.

I waited for the juices to arise to the top and in 24 hours not much

had accumulated. So I added 1 1/2 tsp. Salt to 1 cup of water and

added that to each jar until the greens were covered.

I closed the kilner lids and waited.

This was about a month ago now and I have no foam... but there has

been some bubbles accumulating throughout the jar.

The color of the greens were origianally very light bright green,

and now after 4 weeks they are a dark olive green.

The batch smells ok. I dont think it smell bad, but I am leary of

testing it so soon.

I keep my jars on my counter in my kitchen where the temps are

nearly a consistent 60-65 degrees.

Do you think I have done anything wrong in any of my steps?

Or should I start over with a better method?

The beach greens are still growing on the beach, and I might be able

to get another picking before the season is over.... I just need

some advice.

I dont have a garden this year since I am in a rental house with no

space.... and I just love kraut! I do hope I can get this experiment

to work to a success!

Any advice is ever so grateful!

Thanks!

PS..My next experiment will be with miso! Food & Supplies are so

limited here on the island, so I am determined to make my own supply

of miso! But that will be later this fall or winter I think.

[Guest guest]

>Do you think I have done anything wrong in any of my steps?

>Or should I start over with a better method?

>The beach greens are still growing on the beach, and I might be able

>to get another picking before the season is over.... I just need

>some advice.

You can check the PH if you are unsure. If it is acidic, it's

likely ok to eat (tho whether it TASTES good or not is another

story!). I think anything 3.3 or below is supposed to be safe.

(assuming the plant isn't toxic: but I'm guessing you checked on that).

We've never had problems with anything fermented though: the

worse thing that's happened is some experiments got a bit

of mold, and I tossed them (tho other people just remove

the mold: use your own judgement!).

It is important to add brine, as you did, if there is air

in the mix and the vegies aren't covered. Air in the mix is bad, because it can

lead to mold.

I usually make sure the brine covers the vegies (any sort of vegies)

or make a paste as for Korean Kimchi that covers everything.

If crushing the vegies doesn't give enough juice, just make a brine

with 1 qt water to 2T salt (boiled and cooled, just to be safe, unless

you have a very good source of water like an artesian well).

Otherwise, WOW, sounds like a great project! I'm sure you'll

refine your method as you go! There is a book called " Keeping food

fresh " which describes a lot of fermenting methods, and really,

you can ferment just about any vegie, esp. the greens. Collards

and kale and turnip greens all work too ... you don't have to

have " cabbage " .

Heidi

[Guest guest]

> It is important to add brine, as you did, if there is air

> in the mix and the vegies aren't covered. Air in the mix is bad,

because it can lead to mold.

>

>

> Heidi

Thanks Heidi,

I will be sure to check the PH! Hadnt thought of that.

At this point, I can see that there are bubbles trapped in the

greens... Should I be tamping down the greens on occasion to remove

these bubbles?

Once Again...Thanks for the advice!