Pickling or fermenting cabbage in the midst of autumn is almost one of the most important preparations for the winter. But it requires quite a long exposure so that lactic acid microorganisms can fully process the natural sugars contained in cabbage leaves into lactic acid. Depending on external conditions, this takes from one to two weeks, and sometimes even about a month. If you can’t wait that long or there’s a celebration coming up the other day where you want to treat your guests to crunchy, juicy cabbage, then you need to use a quick recipe for pickling cabbage. Thus, you can prepare very tasty and crispy salted cabbage literally in a day.
There are currently many similar recipes and almost all of them are based on the fact that prepared vegetables are poured with hot brine and due to this, lactic acid fermentation of cabbage is accelerated several times. This process is especially effective with the additional use of different types of vinegar. In the article you can find several recipes quick pickling of cabbage hot method, both with and without vinegar.
Salting tricks
Experienced housewives know many tricks that they actively use when pickling cabbage, including using the hot method.
- First of all, for pickling you need to choose cabbage varieties that ripen at the end of September, in October. They must contain enough sugar for the fermentation process to occur correctly. It is believed that the best forks for pickling are formed after a light autumn frost hits them. Sometimes a suitable variety is determined by its shape - most often, heads of cabbage for pickling should be slightly flattened on top.
- High-quality pickling of cabbage will only happen if you use the right salt. It should be coarsely ground and without any additives, and in no case iodized. You can use sea salt, but you need to make sure it is pure.
- Our ancestors claimed that the best time to pickle cabbage is during the new moon and during the waxing moon. This is easy to determine even without a special lunar calendar - just look out the window in the evening. If there are a lot of stars in the sky, but it is also quite dark, then it is likely that it is the time of the new moon. The waxing moon is also easily identified if you know that its crescent is opposite to the letter “C”.
- If the recipe calls for pickling cabbage with vinegar, then it can be replaced with apple or wine vinegar, citric acid and even lemon juice. You can also use juice from sour cherry plum or plum, as well as Antonovka apples.
- To prevent hot-salted cabbage from losing its attractive appearance and taste, it is necessary that brine Always completely cover the vegetables in the jar or pan. Therefore, during salting, oppression is often used. If when pickling vegetables in a pan or in a barrel it is easy to provide a load placed on any lid or plate, then with pickling in jars the situation is more complicated.But you can use the following method. Take a strong, intact plastic bag, fill it with water, and carefully push it into the neck of the jar. Tie the other end tightly. The bag of water will spread over the surface and press down the cabbage.
- If the fermentation process according to the recipe takes more than a day, then the cabbage must be pierced regularly, thereby allowing the accumulated gases to escape. In addition, it is necessary to remove the resulting foam from the surface of the cabbage several times a day with a slotted spoon. If the foam stops forming and the brine becomes clear, this indicates that the cabbage is ready.
- Pickled cabbage is best stored at a temperature of +3°+7°C, but make sure that the temperature does not drop below zero. Otherwise, the cabbage will lose its taste and healthy qualities and become soft.
Instant spicy cabbage
Cabbage prepared according to this instant recipe tastes most like traditional pickled cabbage.
All of them are added in small quantities to the hostess’s taste. So, for one large head of cabbage, weighing about 2-3 kg, you will need:
- 3 medium sized carrots;
- two small heads of garlic;
- 1 tablespoon of dry dill seeds;
- 1 teaspoon allspice black pepper;
- 1 cup of sugar;
- 1.5 liters of water;
- 2 tablespoons salt;
- 4 tablespoons vinegar.
Cabbage heads are peeled from the outer covering leaves, even if they are clean and undamaged. The remaining cabbage leaves are chopped in the most convenient way for the housewife. The carrots are cleaned of dirt and grated on a coarse grater.Garlic is crushed using a special crusher. Cabbage and carrots are mixed together, crushed garlic, dill seeds and allspice are added to them. Sterilized jars are tightly filled with this mixture.
To hotly pickle cabbage, you need to prepare a marinade, for which sugar and salt are added to the water and heated until it boils. At the moment of boiling, vinegar is poured into the marinade and jars of vegetables are poured into the still boiling liquid. If the jars are rolled up immediately after filling with boiling brine, then such a preparation can be stored even outside the refrigerator.
Under these conditions, the dish will be completely ready in two days. If you close the jars with regular plastic lids, then you can only store the product in the refrigerator.
Pickling cabbage without vinegar
Vinegar is not at all a necessary component for making salted cabbage in a quick way. There are recipes that allow you to get a real tasty salty preparation without a drop of vinegar in a relatively short period of time. The main thing is that for pickling cabbage, the method of pouring hot brine is used. The brine itself is quite simple to prepare. 40 g of sugar and 25 g of salt are dissolved in one liter of water, the mixture is heated to a boiling state and boiled for 3-5 minutes. To fill a three-liter jar, on average, about 1-1.5 liters of ready-made brine is required.
According to the recipe, for 3 kg of shredded cabbage you need to prepare 0.8 kg of carrots and 1 kg of sweet bell pepper.All vegetables must be cleaned of excess parts and dirt and cut into thin strips. Before placing vegetables in them, jars must be sterilized and dried. Cabbage, carrots and peppers are laid out tightly in layers, alternating them with each other. Then the jars are filled with hot brine and left to cool. It is better to place pressure on top so that a minimum amount of oxygen enters inside, which means that conditions for the development of unwanted microorganisms are not created.
Even the appearance of such a preparation will arouse your appetite, and the taste of red cabbage will not be inferior to its white cabbage sister.
Both types of preparations can be tasted within a day, although they will reach full flavor development after a few more days.
As for additives that can complement and improve the taste of salted cabbage, it is necessary to mention, first of all, cranberries. Not only does it prevent the development of mold and putrefactive bacteria, it also gives a piquant, special taste to the entire preparation. Some recipes recommend adding grated ginger to give the cabbage some heat. Garlic is often used for the same purposes.
Don’t be afraid to experiment with various additives when pickling cabbage and, perhaps, you will be able to create your own unique taste of this dish, the recipe of which you can pass on to your children and grandchildren.
