Sauerkraut has many healthy properties, and at the same time is a low-calorie product. It has a positive effect on the human digestive system, stimulates the immune system, lowers blood cholesterol, reduces the risk of heart disease, and also improves skin condition. This article will be devoted to how to quickly and tasty ferment white cabbage at home, and recipes for various methods of fermentation (with apples, cranberries, pumpkin) will be given.
Selection and preparation of ingredients
Despite the cheapness of the vegetable, salted or pickled cabbage is a real vitamin bomb that can supply the human body, especially in winter, with vitamins and minerals useful and necessary for functioning. For picking, choose late autumn varieties.
Did you know? Medieval sailors have been swimming for many months and often have scurvy due to a lack of vitamin C in the body. The disease caused tooth loss, edema, and even death, so sauerkraut was included in the diet of sailors to prevent a terrible disease.
Since during the preparation of the winter harvest all the ingredients will be crushed, you can even use slightly damaged vegetables (bursting forks of cabbage, broken carrots). Before you start chopping vegetables, they are pre-prepared. They are thoroughly washed from the ground and dust, after which the root crops are peeled, and the cabbage heads from the upper coarse leaves.
The main condition for a successful winter harvest of cabbage is juicy leaves. From dry, "wooden", not juicy heads of cabbage, it will not be possible to make soaked, salted or pickled cabbage. In our country, cabbage varieties with large forks are usually chosen for fermentation, but in other countries, in particular, China and Korea, Beijing and red cabbage are used for traditional kimchi dishes.
The best recipes
Often cabbage in pickles is combined with fruits, herbs and vegetables, such as pumpkin, apples, grapes, garlic cloves, green dill or dill seed. Especially popular recipes, where cabbage and apples are mentioned as the main ingredients.
It is not difficult and quick to make such a blank, basically all recipes are very simple. You can salt cabbage with apples in any suitable container: in a jar, pan, bucket, barrel. The main thing is that the pickles can be tightly closed with a lid.
Classic recipe
30–40 min
Nutritional value per 100 g of product:
The head of cabbage, intended for salting, is cleaned of the upper leaves and cut into two halves, after which the stump is carefully cut and removed.
Both cabbage halves subtly chop, trying. You can cut vegetables either manually or using a special nozzle of a food processor.
Carrots are peeled and rubbed on a large hand grater intended for beets, after which they are added to the cabbage slicing.
Apples are cut into 4 slices and peel them from seeds and seed chambers. The peel is not removed from apples.
Salt is added to the chopped vegetables, after which they mix well and crush with your hands. As a result, the volume of sliced vegetables will decrease, and the vegetables will let the juice go.
Half of the vegetables are placed in a 3 L jar, then quarters of apples are laid and the slicing continues. Stack cabbage, slightly condensing.
Next, a brine is prepared by mixing cold water and salt. Pour the brine over the cabbage slices and pierce the mixture with a long stick in several places.
The jar should not be clogged with a lid. The best solution would be to cover the jar with gauze. The jar itself is set in a deep bowl until the end of the fermentation process.
The head of cabbage, intended for salting, is cleaned of the upper leaves and cut into two halves, after which the stump is carefully cut and removed.
Both cabbage halves subtly chop, trying. You can cut vegetables either manually or using a special nozzle of a food processor.
Carrots are peeled and rubbed on a large hand grater intended for beets, after which they are added to the cabbage slicing.
Apples are cut into 4 slices and peel them from seeds and seed chambers. The peel is not removed from apples.
Salt is added to the chopped vegetables, after which they mix well and crush with your hands. As a result, the volume of sliced vegetables will decrease, and the vegetables will let the juice go.
Half of the vegetables are placed in a 3 L jar, then quarters of apples are laid and the slicing continues. Stack cabbage, slightly condensing.
Next, a brine is prepared by mixing cold water and salt. Pour the brine over the cabbage slices and pierce the mixture with a long stick in several places.
The jar should not be clogged with a lid. The best solution would be to cover the jar with gauze. The jar itself is set in a deep bowl until the end of the fermentation process.Video recipe
Did you know? To get rid of the calories that appeared in the body due to the eaten cabbage salad of 220 g of vegetable, a person needs at least 30 minutes to ride a bicycle, swim for 25 minutes or run for 22 minutes daily.
With grapes and honey
1 hour
large black grapes
1 kg
Nutritional value per 100 g of product:
- A stump is cut from a cabbage fork, after which leaves are cut into strips 1–1.5 cm wide. For this recipe, a thinner shred is not recommended. The cut is folded into a container and set aside.
- The carrots are rubbed on a coarse grater by hand or using a food processor, after which the cutting is set aside.
- Washed grapes are sorted into berries, preventing the presence of lignified petioles on them.
- The leaves of the basil are finely chopped with a knife into long strips.
- Sliced vegetables are layered in a clean dry glass jar, alternating them in the following order: cabbage (3-4 cm layer), carrots (1 cm layer), grapes (one layer of berries), basil (lightly sprinkled). Following the order, the layers are laid on the shoulders of the tank. When laying, the layers are slightly compacted, but not wrinkled.
- Next, prepare the brine for pouring. They boil water and add honey (according to the recipe) and salt (to taste) into it. The brine ingredients are stirred in boiling water and, not allowing to cool, pour hot liquid over the cabbage. The jar is immediately tightly corked with a metal lid.
Video recipe
Important! For cooking vegetables according to this recipe, the housewife will most conveniently use a jar that has a special notch on the neck to seal a reusable metal lid.
With honey
30–40 min
Antonovka apples
1-2 pcs.
black and allspice peas
7-10 pcs.
Nutritional value per 100 g of product:
From the cabbage heads, a stump is extracted, and then they are crushed in any way. On a grater chopped carrots. Apples are released from seeds, and then cut into slices.
The whole cut is folded into a container, and bay leaf and peas are added. Honey is poured over the slices and salt is poured. Vegetables are mixed without crushing too much.
After mixing, the mixture is tasted. The mixed mixture is left for 30 minutes. for insisting.
Cabbage is laid in a container. It can be either a large glass jar or an enameled pan. A jar or pan with sauerkraut is set in a pan.
A bowl of vegetables is left for 3 days for pickling. Ready-made pickled vegetables crunch. The taste of cabbage turns sweet-salty with sourness.
From the cabbage heads, a stump is extracted, and then they are crushed in any way. On a grater chopped carrots. Apples are released from seeds, and then cut into slices.
The whole cut is folded into a container, and bay leaf and peas are added. Honey is poured over the slices and salt is poured. Vegetables are mixed without crushing too much.
After mixing, the mixture is tasted. The mixed mixture is left for 30 minutes. for insisting.
Cabbage is laid in a container. It can be either a large glass jar or an enameled pan. A jar or pan with sauerkraut is set in a pan.
A bowl of vegetables is left for 3 days for pickling. Ready-made pickled vegetables crunch. The taste of cabbage turns sweet-salty with sourness.Video recipe
Did you know? Fresh medium-sized cabbage head (approximately 3,500 g) contains about 875 calories. This corresponds to approximately 36% of the daily calorie requirement of an adult with an average weight and average physical activity.
With cranberries
30 minutes
White cabbage
4 kg
black and allspice peas
4 pcs.
Nutritional value per 100 g of product:
- Cabbage heads are cut into small, long strips. The cutting thickness should not exceed 0.5 mm. It is convenient to make such thin slices using a special cabbage chopping board. In this recipe, it is advisable not to rub the carrots, but to cut them with a very thin straw. For this, the vegetable is immediately cut into rings up to 0.5 mm thick, after which a stack of rings is cut across with straws of the same diameter. This is done so that the cabbage does not lose its original white color, stained with carrot juice.
- Sour apples are now sliced. Apple slicing is not done in advance so that the apples do not oxidize in the air and do not darken. Fruits are cut into 4 parts, removing seeds and hard pericarp from each. Each quarter of the apple is cut into another 4–5 parts, after which it is mixed with the rest of the vegetables, berries and spices.
- Sliced vegetables and cranberries are spread on a large kitchen board in an even layer, after which they are sprinkled with salt. Next, the slices are mixed well, achieving uniform mixing of vegetables. The vegetable mixture is poured in portions into a bucket or pan, compacted with a fist or a pusher for potatoes. Sealing will contribute to the release of the juice necessary for the fermentation of vegetables. During laying, every 10-15 cm cabbage cutting is supplemented with spices (bay leaf and peppercorns).
- To cook according to this recipe, vegetables are laid in a container with a wide "throat". Vegetable bookmark should occupy the volume of the bucket or pot no more than 2/3, after which a small dish is placed on top of the slices, on which the oppression is set. As a nest for cabbage, you can use a weight of 1 kg (placed in a plastic bag) or a three-liter jar filled with water. Under the weight of oppression, the cabbage is completely covered with juice.
- Fermentation takes place at a temperature above +18 ... + 20 ° C for 3 days. Ready sauerkraut will crunch elastically and have a sweet and sour taste.
Video recipe
Important! Every day, for 3 days, twice a day, cabbage slicing in the fermentation process is pierced with a long wooden stick to the bottom. This is necessary to exit the resulting carbon dioxide mixture.
With pumpkin and carrots
30-50 min
coarse salt
4 tbsp.
black pepper peas
10-15 pcs.
Nutritional value per 100 g of product:
Finely chop the cabbage with a long straw. Sliced cabbage is mixed with carrots, spices and sprinkled with salt, after which it is slightly crushed by hands.
A pumpkin is prepared by peeling the vegetable from seeds and peel and cutting into small pieces. Apples are also cut without seeds, but they are not peeled from the fruit.
The cut is placed in a jar or bucket. After laying the first layer, stack the pumpkin cubes. Then spread the cabbage and lay out a layer of apples.
Above the chopped vegetables, oppression is established. For 3 days, slicing vegetables will ferment in the warmth. It is necessary to pierce the pickle daily with a sharp needle made of wood or metal.
Finely chop the cabbage with a long straw. Sliced cabbage is mixed with carrots, spices and sprinkled with salt, after which it is slightly crushed by hands.
A pumpkin is prepared by peeling the vegetable from seeds and peel and cutting into small pieces. Apples are also cut without seeds, but they are not peeled from the fruit.
The cut is placed in a jar or bucket. After laying the first layer, stack the pumpkin cubes. Then spread the cabbage and lay out a layer of apples.
Above the chopped vegetables, oppression is established. For 3 days, slicing vegetables will ferment in the warmth. It is necessary to pierce the pickle daily with a sharp needle made of wood or metal.Video recipe
Features of storage of blanks
Ready pickles are recommended to be stored at low temperatures. To do this, the workpieces are taken out to the basement or, if a small portion has been prepared, put up in a refrigerator. The product is fermented during fermentation at a temperature close to the heat of the living room.
If the cabbage, which has reached its readiness, is not allowed to stand in the cold, fermentation will continue, and the workpiece will deteriorate and peroxide. Sauerkraut has deservedly been popular for several centuries. This preparation for the future will not only saturate a person with calories, but also replenish the body’s reserves with minerals and vitamins, which are so necessary in the winter.
