Sauerkraut is not only tasty, but also a very valuable product. Nutritionists consider cabbage, after pickling, to be a real storehouse of vitamins. Vitamins support the body's immune system and are involved in many metabolic processes and digestion. Lactic acid bacteria, which are involved in the fermentation process, are useful in the treatment of dysbiosis.
Shredded cabbage is usually fermented.
This recipe is convenient in many ways. The main thing is that the dish does not require additional preparation. Sauerkraut is simply flavored with sunflower oil or added to vinaigrettes, salads, first or second courses. Another factor is that shredded cabbage can be salted with various additives:
- grated carrots;
- raw beets, which will add amazing color to the familiar cabbage;
- spices that improve the usual taste of the vegetable;
- other vegetables for a delicious salad.
And yet, shredded cabbage is convenient to eat. Small slices are ready to eat, and older people also enjoy the healthy pickle with pleasure. But today we’ll talk about an unusual way of fermenting vegetables. This is the pickling of whole heads of cabbage. It sounds unusual, and some have doubts. Will the head of cabbage be able to salt well, will it be crispy and juicy? Turns out, salt the cabbage Eating cabbages of cabbage is not only simple, but also very convenient. Some housewives cut the head of cabbage into halves or quarters. These options are also popular.
Preparing the ingredients for pickling
To prepare a delicious preparation of salted heads of cabbage we will need:
- Heads of cabbage, preferably small in size.
Vegetables are chosen from late varieties with dense, uniform heads. They must be free of mechanical damage and signs of rotting. It's good if you can cut one to make sure the flesh inside is white and firm. Late white cabbage is ideal for pickling. - Salt. For the recipe for salting cabbage heads, we will need regular coarse table salt.
- Water. If possible, use purified water. It will give clarity to the taste sensations.
- Garlic. Take the spicy vegetable to taste. For spice lovers, you can even exceed the recommendations in the recipe.
- Celery. If you don't like the taste of celery, you can safely skip it. But sometimes it's worth trying something new.
- Container for pickling heads of cabbage. Here you need to find a good wooden barrel or vat. You understand that large pieces cannot be salted in a three-liter jar.
- Circle for pressing heads of cabbage. Some people take a special wooden circle. Some get out of this situation using a lid from a large diameter saucepan.
- Cloth or gauze. We need natural ingredients and clean ones.
- Knife. Take a large kitchen knife with a comfortable handle and a sharp blade.
Let's start with preliminary preparation. We clean the selected heads of cabbage from covering leaves. We strip until the leaves are white.
We cut the cabbage stalk crosswise and place the forks in rows in the barrel.
Now let's start with the brine. To ensure that the forks are thoroughly saturated with salt and spices, you need to boil them with water. For 1 liter of clean water we take 40 g of salt.The same amount of sugar will help to emphasize its presence in the brine.
Now we take the removed leaves and cover the top row of heads of cabbage, and place clean linen cloth or gauze on top. If we use gauze, then fold it in 3 layers.
We place a wooden circle on the fabric and complete the structure with oppression. This may be a stone, which we must wash before use.
Fill the stacked heads of cabbage with brine and make sure that the wooden circle is slightly submerged with liquid.
The next stage is compliance with temperature indicators. First salted cabbage in a barrel keep at room temperature. 5 days is enough. Then we move the snack to a cold place. It could be a basement. Some housewives salt the vegetable in small containers.
In this case, further storage is possible on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator.
After 4 days, delicious cabbage is ready to eat. Naturally, it will have to be cut before eating. And you can put whole heads of cabbage on the table, decorating the dish with other vegetables.
Hot method of salting heads of cabbage
It is also called the blanching method. This option requires dividing the heads of cabbage into at least 2 parts.
You also need to cut out the stalks. Then we need to immerse the cabbage in boiling water for 5 minutes.
At the same time, prepare hot brine for pouring. The ratio of salt and water is as in the first option (40 g per 1 liter). But in this recipe, celery root (400 g) and garlic (100 g) are added. Grind the ingredients and add to the brine, then bring the mixture to a boil.
In this recipe, we can use wooden or glass dishes of any capacity.Lay out the pieces of cabbage, cover with a cloth, put pressure on them and pour in brine.
With this method, immediately place the pickled cabbage in a cool place. And be sure to take into account one nuance. After cooling, half-heads of cabbage settle to the bottom, and we can still add new ones. The main thing is that the circle does not remain on the surface, but is covered with liquid.
Using a boiling marinade, you can prepare wonderful spicy cabbage with beets in Georgian style.
The beautiful color of the product immediately attracts attention, and the taste is also excellent.
- Let's prepare the cabbage. Cut 1 head of cabbage into large pieces or eighths of a head of cabbage.
- Cut beets (1 medium) into thin slices.
- Celery greens and hot pepper (1 small pod) in small pieces.
- Garlic. We take the amount of spicy vegetable to taste. Recommended 5-6 cloves.
- Place food in containers in layers. Sprinkle the cabbage with garlic, pepper and herbs.
- Prepare the marinade. For 1 liter of purified water, add 1 tablespoon of sugar, salt and vinegar. In general, take these ingredients to your taste. If you increase the amount of salt a little, the cabbage will be ready faster. Boil the marinade and pour over the cabbage so that the liquid covers the vegetables.
- We keep it in a warm room for three days, then cool it.
You can taste it! This snack will keep in the cold all winter.
Pickling cabbage heads is a creative process. Housewives add mushrooms, spices, herbs. They use different containers and ratios of vegetables. And the dish with pickled heads of cabbage on the table looks very original.
