A traditional Russian dish is sauerkraut. Its preparation cannot be called complicated, but it also has its own subtleties. You can ignore only one stage of fermentation and the dish may not work. Therefore, it is worth listening to the advice and recommendations of experienced housewives.
Before fermenting cabbage, you should choose it correctly. Late or medium grades are ideal for this. In such cabbage, the fermentation process goes well, unlike earlier species.
If you prefer sauerkraut with carrots, then for every 10 kilograms of the product we take 300 grams of carrots.
The most important rule is not to use iodized salt. It is unsuitable for salting.
For every 10 kilograms of cabbage, about 200-250 grams of salt goes, it is better if it is coarsely ground.
Sauerkraut can be with apples, beets, lingonberries, caraway seeds, dill or bay leaves. It all depends on your personal preferences. The fermentation process is no different.
Before souring cabbage, you need to remove the spoiled and green top leaves from the heads. It is fermented with whole heads of cabbage, cut into several parts or chopped. For salting this product, you can not use aluminum utensils, otherwise it will turn out not useful, but harmful.
Now you know the basic recommendations on how to ferment cabbage. It's time to talk about some interesting recipes.
Take a large head of cabbage, two carrots and two tablespoons of coarse salt. Peel the carrots and three on a grater. For now, you need to set her aside. Next, remove the upper green leaves from the cabbage and chop it with long, thin strips. You can use a specially designed grater or cut manually. We spread cabbage on a table or a large board. Put grated carrots and salt on top. Now you need to very carefully mash the cabbage with salt and carrots. We do this for a long time and make sure that all of it is stretched. Thanks to such actions, juice appears.
Next, take the dishes or a jar and put the cabbage into it, constantly tamping it. The secret to a good starter culture is to leave no air in the container. Then the fermentation process will be correct. Having placed all the cabbage in a jar, you need to add juice to the top. Then close it with a loose cover and leave for three days (room temperature).
During the fermentation period, juice will stand out, so put the jar in some container. As you cook, you need to periodically pierce the cabbage with a knife or stick to remove the gases formed in the process. It is also necessary to add the allocated juice as necessary.
When the fermentation process ends, the brine will become light. We remove the cabbage in a cold place. The dish is ready.
How to ferment cabbage with additional ingredients? The technology is the same as in the classic recipe. You just need to add apples, lingonberries or other products.
To prepare sauerkraut with apples, we take the following proportions. For 10 kilograms of cabbage is 300 grams of carrots, 500 grams of apples and 250 grams of salt. Shred the cabbage in the usual way. Then add carrots and salt to it. Put it in a container, and put apples between the layers of cabbage. Better to take apples with sourness. Next we make kvasim in the usual way.
We add cranberries or cranberries in the same way, between layers of cabbage. Knowing the basic recipe for sauerkraut, you can add your own ingredients. Bay leaves and cloves give the dish a spicy aroma. Sauerkraut with beets will be a characteristic pink color. For sharpness, you can add the hot pepper whole or cut into pieces.
When salting cabbage , celery root, dill, horseradish and other ingredients are also used. Therefore, you can come up with your own original recipe, which will be no less tasty and fragrant. The main thing is that the cabbage is juicy and crispy.