Get Your Probiotics Naturally, Make Some Chow Chow...

❤️ me some Chow Chow.  I am a huge 🐶 lover but in this instance I mean the yummy relish you find mostly in the south.  I  am bringing to SoCal

So give this southern staple a try because rather than relying on added sugar and vinegar like most commercial relish, this is naturally fermented.

The lacto-fermented version is nutrient rich & provides live active cultures- probiotics not from a pill!  Think about eating this to get you gut health vs. some sugar bombed yogurt

And it is delish!  

Prep Time: 30-40 minutes

Actual Work: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1/2 medium Cabbage Head

2 tbsp Kosher Salt

1/2 cup Yellow Onion (diced)

1/2 cup Fresh Corn

1 cup Roma Tomatoes (diced)

1/2 cup Green Pepper (diced)

1/2 cup Red Pepper (diced)

2 cloves Garlic

1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flake (optional)

The Process:

Step 1 – Prepping The Ingredients

Add the salt and sweat the cabbage. Knead in the salt and let it sit at room temperature for 20-30 minutes to draw the moisture from the cabbage. Use your bare hands to press and work the cabbage to extract as much moisture as possible.

Next, add the remaining chow chow ingredients and stir them all together.

Step 2 – Packaging

All that is left is to get the chow chow into the jar. Transfer one handful at a time into the jar, tamping down the contents after each addition. The goal is to press out as much air as possible. The brine water at the bottom of the bowl should be poured over the top of the jar.

It is important to keep the solids submerged in the brine to avoid molding.  Cover the entire opening with a coffee filter and secure it with a rubber band.

Set the jar in a draft free, room temperature location to ferment. The Lactobacilli bacterias used for fermentation are already present. 

Now that you’ve created the proper environment for them to flourish, all you need is time. After a few days the color will have faded, and the tartness from the lactic acid will be detectable. 

This isn’t a sauerkraut, so don’t let it sit out for weeks to fully sour. Chow chow relish should still have a bit of sweetness from the veggies to round out the tartness from fermentation. 

3 to 5 days is about all the time it needs, but let your taste buds be the judge.