"You have a cabbage - God forbid everyone," the hero of one of his favorite comedies loved to repeat. And this is no accident: what could be better as a snack during a feast (except perhaps a cucumber!) Or a salty addition to boiled potatoes. What can I say, sauerkraut is of particular importance for the Russian. A separate topic is the healing properties of the product. In a word, let everyone know how to ferment cabbage, there is nothing complicated in this.
Traditional fermentation
This is the main recipe with a long history, on which all innovations in the field of pickling are based. The only difficulty is the ability to beautifully chop the cabbage and carrots. It is not necessary to make large volumes: this wonderful vegetable is available all year round, so you can regularly replenish your stocks. So to the point:
- Before fermenting cabbage, you need to cook all the ingredients: two large strong heads of cabbage, peeled carrots, medium - about six or seven, peas, bay leaf, salt.
- Cabbage is finely chopped. Carrots can be finely chopped into strips, or grated on a coarse grater for Korean carrots.
- Next, in a large cup, cabbage is crushed with salt (for 5 kg - 120 g of large sodium chloride, in no case extra and not iodized). Those who have experience in fermenting cabbage know that it is not worth it to work very hard, otherwise the cabbage will become too soft.
- Carrots are mixed with cabbage, again everything is slightly crushed. Finally, a small handful of pepper is added with peas, pieces of six to seven bay leaves, everything is mixed. If desired, you can add dill or caraway seeds.
- The resulting product is placed in a saucepan, tub, glass jar and well tamped.
The container with cabbage must be put on a tray or in a cup so that precious juice does not disappear in vain, which rises on the second day and can overflow over the edge. It must be collected and added back to the cabbage when the juice level drops. A few days there is pickling in the room, and then the product is transferred to cool. It is important that the cabbage is covered with excreted juice. If it is not enough, you can add a little saline solution (1 tablespoon of salt per liter of boiled cooled water).
Until the end of the fermentation, the cabbage needs to be punctured several times with a stick or skewer to let out gas.
How to ferment cabbage for the winter in brine
This is also a popular method. Although true connoisseurs do not recognize salted cabbage in this way. Firstly, there is no precious natural sauerkraut juice, which in itself is a medicine. Secondly, to speed, improve the taste, preserve a beautiful white color, many add vinegar and other spices to the brine. Nevertheless, this is also a good way to ferment cabbage, the recipe will not be redundant.
For brine you will need: for 1 liter of water - 2 tablespoons of salt and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Cabbage is chopped and mixed with additives, as in the usual way, and placed in a fermentation tank. Water with salt and sugar boils and cools. Someone even pours boiling water, but then a crisp state is more difficult to achieve. Unless, of course, experiment with vinegar, which is undesirable. For two or three days, the cabbage is kept at room temperature, with the appearance of foam, the top is cleaned with a spoon, the cabbage is pierced with a pointed stick to let out gas and bitterness, then the jar or pan is put into the cellar or refrigerator.
Useful Tips for Note
Our grandmothers always put peeled stalks in the cabbage for souring, and it turned out very tasty. But now it’s better not to do this: it is in the stumps that all kinds of nitrates and nitrites are collected.
If you shift sauerkraut with green apples, you will also get unusually tasty soaked apples.
Before fermenting cabbage, you need to look at the moon. If it is growing - you can get down to business, the cabbage will turn out delicious and crispy. They say that during menstruation it is undesirable for women to deal with this dish: cabbage will be flabby and gray.