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Sauerkraut can be used as an independent dish, making delicious salads and vinaigrettes, as well as cabbage soup, vegetable stew, stewed cabbage, and filling in pies. For fermentation, varieties of medium and late ripening are taken. As a rule, this vegetable is harvested in late October early November. This preparation can be stored for a year.
Housewives prepare cabbage in their own juice. But sauerkraut in brine it is also incredibly tasty. In addition, it can be prepared at any time of the year according to recipes in bank. We offer you several recipes from which you can choose the most suitable one for your family.
These secrets will help you
The technology of fermentation is not a very complicated matter, but some nuances must be observed:
- When shredding forks, try to get thin strips. The finished dish not only looks elegant, but also tastes excellent. Finely shredded cabbage has a better crunch.
- Choose elastic forks. When cut, the vegetable should be dull white.
- Iodized salt should not be used to ferment vegetables. It makes the cabbage soft and gives an unpleasant taste. Most likely, you will not want to eat such a preparation. Coarse salt, or rock salt as it is also called, is best.
- The acidity of the vegetable is achieved through salt.Add it to sauerkraut as much as the recipe suggests. Experimenting with this seasoning is inappropriate, especially if you are just learning how to ferment cabbage.
- The color depends on the size of the chopped carrots. The finer it is, the more intensely the brine is colored.
- As for sugar, many housewives do not add it. But if you want to get pickled vegetables faster, then granulated sugar will help speed up the fermentation process.
Options for sauerkraut in brine
Fermentation recipes may differ in additional ingredients. But cabbage, carrots and salt are the main ingredients. Additives simply change the taste of the finished product.
Classic version
This is the simplest option that our grandmothers used. The ingredients are for a three-liter jar. Taking the proposed recipe as a basis, you can always experiment by introducing various spices, fruits, and berries.
What products will we have to work with:
- with white cabbage – 2 kg;
- 1 or 2 carrots depending on size;
- bay leaf – 3 leaves;
- salt (without iodine) and granulated sugar - 60 grams each.
To prepare the brine you will need 1.5 liters of water.
How to ferment
- Before starting work with vegetables, we will prepare the brine. Boil one and a half liters of water and cool to room temperature. Add sugar and salt, stir until the ingredients are completely dissolved.
- Remove the top leaves from the heads of cabbage, trim off the damaged areas if necessary, and cut out the stalk. You can shred vegetables using any device: a regular knife, a shredder, or a special knife with two shredding blades.
With this tool you get the same even straw. And preparing the vegetable is much faster. Still, two blades are not one. - After washing and peeling the carrots, grate them on a regular grater or for a Korean salad. The choice will depend on what kind of sauerkraut you prefer. If it has an orange tint, then use a grater with large mesh.
- Place the cabbage in a large bowl to make it easier to work with. Add cabbage and simply mix the contents. There is no need to knead until the juice appears.
- We transfer the workpiece into a jar, arranging the layers with a bay leaf and compact it well. After that, fill it with brine. Sometimes it stays depending on how you compacted the contents. The main thing is that the brine should be on top of the cabbage.
- Cover the container with a clean cloth or gauze and place in a warm place.
- Jar with sauerkraut in instant brine, you need to put it in a tray, since during fermentation the juice will overflow.
Three days is enough for fermentation in a warm room. To prevent the finished product from becoming bitter, pierce the contents of the jar to the bottom with a sharp object.
Some novice housewives write: “I make sauerkraut, and the smell spreads throughout the house.” This is a natural process: during fermentation, gases are released. Any foam that appears must also be removed. Cabbage prepared according to this recipe is stored under a nylon lid in the refrigerator.
Simple recipe:
Option with pepper
To make sauerkraut tastier and more aromatic, we will ferment it with black and allspice peas in a three-liter jar. There are no complications to this Instant Pot recipe. The number of jars you use will depend on how many forks you have prepared.
The recipe for sauerkraut in brine requires the following ingredients:
- white cabbage - a little more than two kilograms;
- carrots – 2 pieces;
- bay leaf - 3-4 leaves;
- black pepper – 8-10 peas;
- allspice – 4-5 peas;
- sprigs of dill with seeds.
Cooking recipe
First, let's make the brine for the sauerkraut. Its composition and preparation are almost identical to the first recipe.
At the bottom of the jar we put dill, shredded cabbage, mixed (not grated!) with carrots, put them in the jar in layers, compact them. This is convenient to do with a rolling pin. We “flavor” each row with peppercorns and bay leaves. The denser the chopped vegetables are, the more brine you will need.
Fill with brine, leaving space on top of the jar with cabbage for the brine to rise during fermentation. Cover with a regular metal lid and place in a warm place.
Preparation does not take much time, but in three days the delicious crispy sauerkraut recipe for the winter will be ready. You can cook cabbage soup, make salads, bake rosy pies.
Instead of a conclusion
As you can see, do quick sauerkraut The preparation is simple. The main thing is that work must be done with the mood. Then everything will work out. Your family will be provided with Siberian lemon and protected from diseases. Bon appetit everyone.
