This is one of my favorite. I remember buying this in the Fresh Food Markets in Hungary, where it was served from a large wooden barrel, where it was originally put to ferment. This fermented cabbage is extremely healthy, have been made and used in the Hungarian, German and Polish cooking for hundreds of years. Recently have been discovered again by health guru's around the world, and a variation of it is also called Kumbacha.

This is a very easy and 100% natural method of making it.

All you need is a couple of Drumhead cabbage, clean salt, a bucket and patience. Yes, patience, as it will take 3-4 weeks to ferment. I usually leave it at least for 4 weeks.

So here is how you make it:

I have used 10.5kg cabbage, to me it was 3 large cabbage heads, but you can scale the recipe down to the amount you want.

You can use a smaller grater to shave the cabbage heads, but discard the stoke. If you making a larger amount, it will be easier to source a cabbage slicer.

After you shaved all the cabbage, you need to add and mix in the salt.

You need to use pure salt, like Himalayan pink salt. Salt that contain iodine might ruin your work, also salt that contains anti caking agent like most table salt.

The salt ratio is for every 100g cabbage you need to add 2g of salt. So in my case, for 10kg cabbage I have added 200g salt. The correct salt amount is important, so we get the desired water amount, fermentation, and ultimately the final taste.

Mix well by hand. You will see the cabbage start to release moisture, and become wet and reducing in volume.

Normally you don't need to add anything else, but in this instance I have added a few bay leaves and whole black peppercorns.

Place the cabbage in a plastic container, or for authentic results use a wooden container. (the wooden container i have used was made for this purpose)

Make sure you push down the cabbage in the container very hard, so it is well compacted. To fully compact, use a clean plastic and put over the container and use a clean rock to push it down. You can also use a leak proof plastic bag filled with water for the weight.

Put it in a shady, not too warm place. It likes the cooler temperatures, so here in Australia it is the best time to make it is now in the "winter" months.

You will need to wait for 3-4 weeks before you can taste it. The longer it ferments the better it gets.

Will feature some meals in a months or so time to show you how to make delicious meals out of this fermented cabbage. It is also used "as is" when ready as as a salad compliment to various spicy Hungarian dishes.