Recipe Box: Finding Culinary Creativity in Kraut & Kimchi

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Andrew Sauter Sargent found career direction in a book about the history of salt. “I was struck about the role salt played in our first food preservation methods, which allowed people to move away from their food source and basically started globalization. In the book were some ancient recipes for sauerkraut and kimchi. I was inspired. So I grew some cabbage that summer and made my first sauerkraut. I passed it around to some friends to try, and they really enjoyed it. Then I heard about a friend of a friend who had started a business on the East Coast making and selling sauerkraut and kimchi.”

Thus a nugget of an idea was born. “We did some research and found folks doing the same thing on the West Coast, but no one was doing it here in Wisconsin. So we decided to jump in with both feet.  That was eight years ago.”  

Andrew and Jennifer Sauter Sargent live and work on 70 verdant acres near Cornucopia, Wisconsin, with their three children. At Spirit Creek Farm, they built a commercial kitchen where they create a whole line of lacto-fermented sauerkrauts, kimchi and ginger carrots, along with pickled green beans and beets.

“It’s very simple and ancient and there are no secrets,” says Andrew. “There are two ingredients in our sauerkraut – sliced cabbage and salt. You pound the cabbage and the salt to further break down the vegetable cell walls. The released liquid builds up to cover the cabbage and allows lactobacillus bacteria to multiply. The result is CO2 and lactic acid. The cabbage doesn’t putrefy, it acidifies.”

You can think of this type of sauerkraut as a living food; like yogurt it contains living cultures. “Lactic acid is what our stomach uses to digest food. Lactobacillus is a live culture, and we keep it that way by not pasteurizing or heat canning our products.” As long as the pickled vegetables are immersed in liquid and kept away from oxygen, all is well.

Spirit Creek Farm buys cabbage and vegetables from about a dozen local organic farms. “That has always kind of been our thing. We want to buy from farmers we know. We know how they farm. We’ve chosen not to certify our products as organic because it would narrow our choices and we want to be able to buy from farms that may be too small to certify.”

What are some of Andrew’s favorite ways to serve his work? “I’ve made a kimchi quesadilla for years. It’s my go-to fast food. Slices of summer sausage, cheese and kimchi folded into a tortilla. And as far as I’m concerned bratwurst is just not a bratwurst without a fermented food on it. Also, I have a great recipe for pork chops with creamy kraut.”

Jennifer favors a kimchi pancake recipe inspired by others that she’s found. “This is the winner!” she says.

Spirit Creek Farm has been in business since 2007 and their products are available in seven states. They post several recipes online. As for the future, Andrew finds the ancient art is always new. “We learn something new about the fermentation process every day.”  

Kimchi Pancakes

Makes 3-4 modest-sized pancakes

  • 2/3 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 c. cornmeal
  • 2 Tbsp. rice flour
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. black pepper or gochugaru (Korean red pepper powder)
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 c. kimchi juice and cold water (see directions)
  • 2 c. kimchi (Jennifer, of course, recommends any Spirit Creek Farm brand)
  • 1-3 Tbsp. grape seed oil (or other oil that handles high heat)

Mix together flour, cornmeal, rice flour, salt, pepper and egg. Drain kimchi through a mesh colander and reserve juice. Combine juice with cold water to equal 1 cup. Add juice and water to flour mix.

Either chop up kimchi or leave it chunky.  Add it to the mix and stir. You should have a nice batter, wet in consistency, that holds form when ladled into the pan.

Heat a cast iron or stainless skillet to medium-high heat and add 1 Tablespoon oil.  Be sure whole surface is covered with oil, then measure 1/3 cup of batter onto skillet and push batter to form nice pancake (you can fit 2 to 4 pancakes, dependent on skillet size).

Cook 2 to 4 minutes, then flip and cook for another 1 to 3 minutes until you have nice browned, slightly crispy pancake. If you like them thinner and crispier, spread the batter out thinner. Then remove from heat and keep in a warm oven or a pan on low heat.

Serve warm, whole or cut into wedges with the sour cream and/or tamari dipping sauce (both below). You also can substitute the kimchi for curtido, a lightly fermented Salvadoran cabbage mix, and its juice in the same portions. Enjoy! – Inspired from The Kimchi Cookbook, by Lauran Chun

Two Dipping Sauce options:

Jennifer’s favorite (shown with pancakes above):

  • 1/4 c. sour cream
  • 1tsp.-1 Tbsp. sriracha (spice to taste)

or

  • 2 Tbsp. tamari or soy sauce
  • 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp. toasted sesame oil
  • 1/2 t. toasted sesame seeds

Chops with Creamy Kraut

  • 4 pork or lamb chops
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 c. water
  • 2 c. sauerkraut (purple, green, curtido or kimchi)
  • 1/2 c. sour cream

Brown chops over medium heat (6-7 minutes each side). Salt and pepper to taste and drain if necessary.

Once chops are browned, add about 1/4 cup water to the pan and simmer the chops for 20 minutes or longer, turning frequently and adding more water as necessary (about 1 cup total). Remove the chops to a warm serving plate.

In the same pan with heat off (to preserve the kraut’s nutritional value), add sauerkraut (or your choice kraut). Mix chop drippings, kraut and sour cream until creamy. (Add kraut or sour cream to taste.)

Smother the chops with the creamy kraut and serve with rice, potatoes, noodles or other veggies. – From Gayle Gonsior (Morning View Farm, Port Wing), thanks to Tony Thier

Juli Kellner hosts “WDSE Cooks” on WDSE/WIRT PBS 8 & 31.