Sauerkraut is one of the main vegetable products that are on our table in the winter. It is harvested in the heads for stuffed cabbage, sliced for salads, borscht, cabbage soup, etc. It is stewed, stuffed with bell peppers, pies and they cook many more different dishes. The main task is to ferment it so that it turns out delicious.
Common cabbage
Perfectly turns
sauerkraut, the recipe of which involves apples and sour berries. It has a very pleasant aftertaste, an appetizing aroma, and it looks very attractive. How to cook it? For 5 kilograms of cabbage salt is required at least 100 g (further to taste), carrots - half a kilogram, apples, preferably antonovka, 300 g (cut into slices), berries (cranberries, lingonberries can be) - 200-250 g, bay leaves - 5- 6 pieces or more, a handful of allspice, you can have a few clove inflorescences. It is worth noting that the ratio of products can be taken at your discretion. The main thing is to put enough salt. In order for the cabbage to be properly fermented, the recipe recommends finely chopping it, crushing it a little and grate it with salt, mix with grated carrots, berries and apples. Then fill it with cans or transfer to a pan, a barrel, another container in which the vegetable will reach the standard. Just leave a free place so that there is room for gas to escape. Therefore, it’s more convenient not to use banks yet. In order not to spoil and fermented cabbage more quickly, the recipe recommends covering the blank with the top leaves removed from the heads, then with a linen rag, a wooden circle or a lid, but slightly smaller in diameter than the opening of the pan or tub. And put heavy oppression on top, under the mass of which the vegetables will drop, and the brine will come out above them and cover the workpiece completely. Otherwise, the cabbage will begin to rot. The container should be kept in a warm place for about a week or a little more (depending on the size of the barrel).
Sauerkraut, the recipe claims it, is ready for 8-10 days, when air bubbles stand out on the brine surface. Then you need to pierce the workpiece in several places with a clean wooden stick, reaching the bottom: this way the paths for the gas are laid out.
Repeat the procedure from time to time until the brine is clean and transparent. Then you need to wash the leaves on top, circle the cover, wash the rags (without detergents!), Oppression (or replace them with another, easier), and put the cabbage itself in a cool place, where it will be stored and used as necessary. It is only necessary to observe the cleanliness of the fabric, cover, etc.
Sauerkraut with apples and cucumbers
Very tasty sauerkraut is obtained according to the original recipe, which includes, in addition to sour Antonov apples, also cucumbers. Hot pepper and dill add seasoning to the dish as seasoning. Number of products (approximate, vary as desired): cabbage - 3 kg, apples - 1-1.2 kg, red hot pepper - 1-2 pods, cucumbers - 450-500 g, salt - 150-200 g, dill (greens ) taste.
Chop the cabbage, peel the apples from the seeds and rub on a coarse grater, cut the cucumbers into slices or circles, and pepper into thin strips. Just don’t touch your eyes with your fingers - it will bake even when you wash your hands. Place a layer of cabbage, apples, peppers and cucumbers in a yeast container. After each layer, pour salt, distributing it evenly. Cover with dill and, as in the previous recipe, a rag, a lid with a load. Make sure the juice comes out. Keep warm for 14 days, then expose to a cool place. Do not forget about the cleanliness of the lid, fabric, as well as how to lay in the layers of vegetables paths for the release of gases.
Instant cabbage
If you are interested in fast sauerkraut, a prune recipe is definitely for you. Its big advantages are not only taste and unusual preparation, but also very short terms - only 3 days! So, take the main vegetable 5 kg, water - 1 liter, dried plums - a pound, sugar - 300 g, natural beet juice (cook yourself by rubbing the vegetable and squeezing it) 1 cup, salt - from 75 g and a little clove, allspice . Cut the cabbage coarsely, even into quarters, and pour boiling water, and when it cools down - drain. Boil prunes. Put the cabbage in the fermentation tank, pour the plum broth along with the berries, add the juice and other components, cover, put the oppression. Keep warm for 3 days, then you can eat it - the snack turns out to be excellent. Store in a cool place.
Eat a crunchy cabbage on health!