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Sauerkraut: recipe for cooking. Video
Sauerkraut is very useful for the body, because it contains a huge amount of vitamin C. It is useful to eat it in winter and especially in spring, when the risk of vitamin deficiency is high. In addition, sauerkraut is very tasty, salads are made from it, cabbage soup is cooked, stewed, put in pies, and so on. There are several ways to ferment cabbage for the winter.
Features of cooking sauerkraut
Not all varieties of white cabbage are suitable for sourdough, you need to choose only mid- and late-ripening ones. They have dense leaves and heads of cabbage, such a cabbage is crispy and stored for a long time. In addition, these varieties ripen in the fall, just when the most appropriate time comes to harvest pickles for the winter.
There are many recipes for pickling cabbage; for flavor, not only carrots and spices are added to it, but also other products:
– apples; – cranberries; – lingonberries; – plums; – mushrooms; – celery; – bell peppers, etc.
For proper salting, it is important to know how much salt to take. Not only the taste of the finished cabbage depends on this, but also its shelf life. If you take a little salt, the sourdough process will be quick, but the cabbage itself will turn out to be not crispy, but soft and unexpressed in taste. The optimal formula for most recipes is 200 g of salt per 10 kg of cabbage.
Usually cabbage is fermented in barrels, but if you don’t need that amount, you can easily get by with a saucepan or glass jar. But just do not take aluminum, galvanized dishes and damaged enamel. Otherwise, the cabbage will turn out with an unpleasant aftertaste, and you run the risk of poisoning, because the lactic acid released during fermentation actively interacts with such a metal.
Sauerkraut with cranberries and apples
Prepare for 1 kg of cabbage: – 100 g of carrots; – 100 g of apples; – 100 g of cranberries; – 30 g of salt.
Peel the head of cabbage from the top green leaves, cut into 2-3 pieces and remove the stalk. Peel the carrots and grate them on a coarse grater. Grate apples too or cut into small pieces. Chop the cabbage, you can chop it in a wooden trough. Combine with apples and carrots in a large bowl or directly in a tub or barrel, salt and stir.
Do not grind the cabbage very finely and do not grind it with salt, just stir gently
Transfer the cabbage to a container scalded with boiling water, where you will ferment it. Line the bottom with cabbage leaves in advance. This is not necessary for salting in jars. Tamp with a wooden pestle or press down hard on the cabbage with your hand to release the juice. In a tub or saucepan, place a wooden circle on top, and a weight on it. In jars, let the cabbage ferment without oppression, just cover it with gauze and put it in a saucepan or basin so that the brine does not drain onto the table.
Keep the containers at room temperature, the next day, pierce the cabbage in several places with a wooden sharpened stick to release the accumulated gases. Failure to do this will create an unpleasant odor that will ruin your entire work. In addition, the cabbage will turn out soft and tasteless. Remove gases several times a day and continually skim any foam that appears.
Ferment in barrels and other large containers for 5-7 days, then transfer the cabbage to a cool place, such as a basement or cellar. In banks, this process will take no more than 3 days. As soon as the cabbage begins to spread its characteristic sour smell, release the gases from it again, close it with a clean boiled plastic lid and put it in the refrigerator or cellar for storage.
Sauerkraut with beets and hot peppers
Cook for 8 kg of cabbage:
– 100 g of horseradish; – 100 g of garlic; – 200 g of beets; – a bunch of parsley; – a pod of hot pepper, salt.
Boil the brine in advance. To do this, dilute 4 g of salt and 200 sugar in 200 liters of water, boil and cool until warm.
Peel white cabbage from the upper leaves, cut out damage and rot, if any. Divide the heads of cabbage into large pieces, about 200-300 g each. At the same time, remove the stumps. Peel the horseradish root and grate or mince it. Peel and dice the beets. Chop a bunch of parsley, chop the garlic.
To prevent horseradish from hurting your eyes, put a plastic bag on the meat grinder
Prepare an enamel bucket or large enamel pot and scald the inside with boiling water. Wait until it cools down and then place large cabbage leaves on the bottom. Place the cabbage slices on top in one layer, sprinkle with chopped parsley and garlic, and beetroot slices. Add 2-3 slices of seedless hot pepper pod. Put the cabbage back in. So alternate, and then cover with cabbage leaves and cover with warm brine.
Press down on the cabbage with a beetroot plate or wooden mug, place the weight. If all the cabbage is not included in the container, add a little the next day, after the bulk has settled. Keep the pot warm for two days, and then transfer it to a cool room. After a week, spicy cabbage with beets can be eaten. It will become a bright red color with a very aromatic taste. If you do not like bitter, use very little or no capsicum.