I didn’t think I liked sprouts… to be honest, I had only tried them once and didn’t have a positive or negative reaction to them.
My good friend Janice (of Nourished by Nature) said that at Christmas time, she made a spicy sprout ferment… I was inspired, so I gave it a go myself. I didn’t patiently wait for her to share her recipe; I just fired ahead and put together some flavours myself – that’s one of the beautiful things about making your own ferments: you get to experiment with your favourite flavours.
Spicy Fermented Sprouts Fiber Points 4+
bag of sprouts
1 whole chilli
3 cloves of garlic
Fresh ginger ( I love ginger, so use about 3 thumb size worth)
2% of the weight of your chopped sprouts Pink Himalayan Sea Salt
1 litre glass mason jar
Finely chop the sprouts and weigh them. Then, weigh out 2% of that weight in salt, e.g. 500g sprouts = 10g salt. Massage the salt into the sprouts. Once they are starting to wilt, chop your chilli and garlic and grate the ginger to mix it through (either with a gloved hand or with a fork).
Put your mix into the glass jar and pack it tight to ensure you are pushing out the air (500g of sprouts should fit into 1-litre jar; 1kg sprouts will need a 2-litre jar). You need to seal off the mix to make it airtight. If you have a cabbage, you could use a cabbage leaf; just cut it down so it fits the jar snugly. Alternatively, a freezer bag would do. You want to press it down so the brine rises in the jar. As Janice says, ‘under the brine, everything is fine’. Your ferment should be fully covered by the liquid/brine released when you massaged the salt into the leaves.
Lock on your lid, put in a cosy space, out of direct sunlight and leave for around 7 days. If your brine comes within an inch of the top of your jar, sit it in a bowl in case it bubbles over (I have ended up with quite the mess on my counter from active ferments!).
Because the sprout leaves are small and thin, they take less time to ferment than cabbage. When you are happy with your ferment, decant it into smaller jars and store it in the fridge until you are ready to eat it.
You could add any flavours you like to the sprouts. If you like very spicy, cayenne pepper is a good addition. Any herbs, or apple, cranberries, seeds (sesame or hemp)… Let your imagination run wild. And the more diversity of flavours you add, the more fiber points you get!
What flavours would you try?
