fun with fermentation - or - it's not purple drank

Whenever I say fun with flags fermentation it makes me giggle. If you watch Big Bang Theory you know what I'm talking about. If you don't....well, then I guess you're not a nerd. Quick post today! I'm trying to start thinking of different formats to post in. Along with all my ramble-y, personal, trying to make connections to larger issues posts, and in accordance with my desire to post more frequently, I'll try to some shorter posts. Today's is the start of a 2, 3, 4??? week (depending on how long the fermentation takes) documentation of my sauerkraut adventure.

Two days ago, while simmering chicken broth for 9 hours (part of an upcoming post), I also thinly sliced about 3/4 of a purple cabbage. Hacking it in half was half the battle.

Once it was all sliced into a bowl I tossed it with 1-1.5 tbsps of coarse sea salt.

Then I alternately massaged it (with my hands, a good forearm workout I must say) and pounded it (with a wooden dowel-shaped rolling pin I use for such sadism) every once in awhile for the next few hours. I let it sit overnight, and in the morning packed it (tightly) into a jar and topped it with the liquid that had formed. Setting aside one whole leaf, to use as a "lid" to push everything under the brine is such a great idea!

I'll check on it everyday to make sure it's still submerged (I've talked about why before here).

Last night it looked like "purple drank" - a sugar/colouring/flavour concoction our cooks used to make once in awhile.