- Sauerkraut, not just a relish anymore - Evelyn Gaspar
It's a well-known historical fact that vitamins in fermented vegetables, such as sauerkraut and kimchee, kept people healthy through cold winters and long ocean voyages. Nowadays, with the availability of frozen vegetables and fresh produce from faraway places, sauerkraut has been relegated to the condiment shelf. At the same time, there are newly discovered health benefits including important micro-organisms, and cancer prevention. So for many people, especially those who grow vegetables and aim to feed their families from their own gardens, the issue of whether sauerkraut is a relish or a vegetable is a real question, deserving a real answer. Actually there are four questions:
- Does it provide enough vitamins and minerals to be a vegetable?
- Do health benefits vary with different types of sauerkraut
- How is it prepared?
- What about the salt?
Nutritional Data for Sauerkraut
The many vitamins and minerals in cabbage are preserved by the fermentation process. Sauerkraut contains no fat or cholesterol. It's a good source of calcium and magnesium, and a very good source of vitamins C, K, B-6, and folate, as well as iron, potassium, copper, manganese and dietary fiber.
Fresh sauerkraut, the kind that's been refrigerated, but not canned or cooked, also contains the beneficial organism, Lactobacillus plantarum. (also found in some fermented pickles and in kefir, but not in other dairy products.)
A 100-gram serving (2/3 cup; 170 ml) contains 19 calories. Here are highlights of the percent of RDA (recommended daily allowance) of vitamins and minerals in that serving.
- Sodium: 28%, (Low-salt sauerkraut: 13%)
- Vitamin C: 24%
- Iron: 8%
- Vitamin B6: 4%
- Folate: 6%
- Vitamin K: 5%
- Manganese: 8%
- Copper: 5%
- Dietary fiber: 12%
Health Benefits
Cabbage is a cruciferous vegetable and it seems that sauerkraut contains the same cancer-fighting properties. The Polish Women's Study, which asked participants to keep food diaries and also to recall what they ate at the age of 12, found that four servings a week of fresh or lightly-cooked cabbage or sauerkraut prevented breast cancer and that such a diet in youth correlated with lifelong immunity. Eating longer-cooked cabbage or sauerkraut showed no anti-cancer benefit.
Furthermore, the fermentation process transforms cancer-fighting enzymes into even better ones according to a Finnish study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, October 2002, and summarized in Reuters Health which also quotes lead-researcher Dr. Eeva Liisa Ryhanen. Dr. Ryhanen is now involved in a project comparing different types of sauerkraut.
About Salt in Sauerkraut
Sauerkraut is made through a fermentation process. Salt is added because the necessary micro-organisms thrive in a saline environment. However there are ways to serve sauerkraut without all that salt.
- In Soups and casseroles, offset the salt in sauerkraut by reducing it elsewhere in the recipe. Try using salt-free stock in place of all or part of the boullion in recipes. Or replace part of the stock with water, milk, or a low-salt vegetable juice.
- Rinse your kraut. Many traditional recipes call for rinsing sauerkraut before cooking or serving. Always press after rinsing to force out excess water. Does rinsing remove nutrients? It probably removes lactobacillus and perhaps some of the vitamin C (which is water-soluble). To offset the effects of processing and rinsing, try the recipe for "Sauer Slaw" at the end of this article.
- Homemade sauerkraut can contain significantly less salt than commercial products. Standard production adds salt at a rate of two or two and a half percent by weight, in other words 2-to-2 1/2 pounds of salt per 100 pounds of cabbage. However, the USDA defines the minimum amount of salt for sauerkraut at 1.1%. That works out to exactly one teaspoon per pound of cabbage. So if you make your own sauerkraut using one teaspoon per pound, yours will have less than half the salt of its standard commercial counterpart, putting it in the same range as low-sodium sauerkraut, canned spinach or stewed tomatoes.
- There are two no-salt ways to ferment sauerkraut--natural fermentation of mashed cabbage, and a wine-and-vinegar method called, "Amish style." commercially produced salt-free sauerkraut is becoming available.
About Fresh Sauerkraut
Canning preserves vitamins and minerals, but it kills micro-organisms. and probably also eliminates the specific anti-cancer effect found in the Polish Women's Study.
Unfortunately, it's hard to store fresh sauerkraut without spoilage. (Never eat spoiled sauerkraut.)
The best strategy varies with weather and climate. Inspect stored sauerkraut often, skimming and adding brine to cover. Here are some options:
- Maintaining sauerkraut in a crock is possible if temperatures are constant and cool.
- Make Sauerkraut in small batches and refrigerate.
- Buy refrigerated products; use soon after opening.
Preparing Sauerkraut as a Vegetable
The flavor of sauerkraut mellows with cooking. If you want it sharp, serve cold or heat only a few minutes. Rinsed and drained it's versatile and unobtrusive. To serve as a simple side-dish, saute sauerkraut with sliced onion. French and German cooks usually rinse, drain and then simmer it with a little wine. Traditional seasonings include bay leaf, rosemary, thyme, caraway seed, juniper berries.
Here's a simple, fresh-tasting salad which adds vitamin C and re-establishes lactobacillus.
Sauer Slaw Salad
4 Servings
Ingredients
- 2 cups (500 ml) sauerkraut
- 2 Tbsp (40 ml) sugar
- 2 Tbsp (40 ml) lemon juice
- 1/3 cup (85 ml) kefir
- 1cup (250 ml) sliced fruit and vegetables such as carrot, apple and celery
Preparation
- Rinse sauerkraut by placing in a colander and running cool water through until it doesn't taste salty. (If using salt-free kraut, skip this step.) Press the sauerkraut against the bottom of the colander, removing as much liquid as possible.
- In a bowl, mix sauerkraut, sugar and kefir. Cover loosely and let it sit at room temperature for about two hours. Then refrigerate.
- Before serving, mix in the lemon juice and sliced fruit and vegetables.
So, Is Sauerkraut a Vegetable? The Answer is...Yes! because it's nutritious, healthy, versatile, and needn't be salty.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for educational purposes only and should not be used for diagnosis or to guide treatment without the opinion of a health professional. Any reader who is concerned about his or her health should contact a doctor for advice.
Evelyn Gaspar - Evelyn Gaspar is an educator and award-winning curriculum writer, cookbook author. nurserywoman and horticulture lecturer, and ...
