Sauerkraut - traditional raznosol, prepared most often from white cabbage - is very popular in many countries, contains many useful substances for the human body, promotes good digestion.
Salting (or souring) cabbage in brine is a special way of preparing and simultaneously preserving this product, known since ancient times (it is simple, like all ingenious ones). Crushed cabbage secrete juice, followed by lactic fermentation. You can sour cabbage and without salt. To do this, in a container with chopped or chopped cabbage (and sometimes other ingredients), add a little clean cold water and expose it to prolonged exposure to oppression (that is, press down). In this case, fermentation takes place without salt, so this product is kept worse, that is, this method requires a slightly different approach and, at least, the presence of a cellar.
If you prepare sauerkraut for the winter in time, you can seriously diversify your table with vitamin salads, aromatic cabbage soup and borscht , delicious pastry with cabbage filling and other wonderful dishes prepared on the basis of this unpretentious raznosol in the winter-spring period.
Tell you how to pickle cabbage in brine.
Of course, for salting we choose dense, tight, unbuttoned forks with clean juicy leaves, taken from the beds after the first light frosts, which is easily determined by a slightly sweet taste. Then shred or cut the cabbage, then evenly sprinkle it with salt, mix, lightly mash, then press down the oppression. Gradually the juice will come out. Always on the leaves of fresh cabbage lactic acid bacteria provide the beginning and development of the process of fermenting sugars from the cabbage juice and form lactic acid, which, by the way, and prevents the possible development of mold fungi.
After 2-7 days (depending on the temperature in the room) the lactic fermentation is completed, then the containers (if they are not very large) should be moved to a colder room (cellar, glazed balcony) in order to avoid peroxidation (in large barrels cabbage is better at once in the cabbage cellar, well, it will come a little slower).
Sometimes white cabbage is fermented with quarters or even halves. Together with cabbage before salting (or sourcing without salt), you can add any dense berries (for example, cranberries or cranberries), apples, sliced vegetables (carrots, beets, sweet peppers, etc.).
There are many recipes, sometimes the ingredients include some spices (peppercorns, fennel seeds, caraway seeds, fennel or coriander, clove inflorescences, bay leaves, etc.). Such additives, of course, not only give the characteristic tastes of cabbage itself, but also change the taste of products that ferment with it in a common container. Especially interesting are the cabbage-soaked apples.
The recipe for sauerkraut in brine
The classical proportion of the capacity of 10 liters (output of the finished product - about 9 kg). It is convenient to use an enamel saucepan (there should be no flaws on the inside).
Ingredients:
- white cabbage (late varieties) - 9 kg;
- carrots - 1 kg;
- bay leaf - 5-8 pieces;
- pepper peas - 12-16 pieces;
- cloves - 5 pcs .;
- salt cooked large - 170-200 g (not more!).
Preparation
Sugar and water in the brine are not needed, the brine is obtained in a natural way as a result of the influence of oppression from a mixture of salt with cabbage juice.
We remove the top leaves from cabbage (they are usually slightly damaged). Shink or cut cabbage. Peeled carrots cut into thin short straws (it is convenient to use a grater, even better - a grater for making Korean carrots: it turns out beautifully). Mix cabbage with carrots in a container. If desired, we add rinsed berries (for example, cranberries: 2-3 cups), put spices and evenly
Press down any flat object (for example, a lid from another pan - smaller, which easily enters the main container). You can use other items from chemically inactive materials. From above we set the yoke, that is, the load. In his role can act any clean heavy objects, for example, smooth stones or a container of water. Cabbage will give the juice, a little cloudy, protruding from under the lid. After 3 days, we remove the yoke, and then you can lay cabbage in clean glass jars.