The best time-tested country-style sauerkraut recipes

Sauerkraut is one of the traditional and healthy snacks, a universal way to store vegetables for a long time. The simplest recipe is rustic. It does not involve complex culinary manipulations, does not require special cooking skills and does not involve expensive products.

Today we will tell you how to properly ferment cabbage in a rustic way, store it and eat it.

Selection and preparation of product for fermentation

To choose high-quality white cabbage for fermentation, it is recommended to buy it in the fall, when they ripen late varieties suitable for winter fermentation. Early salad varieties are green in color, not as dense as autumn heads of cabbage, and cannot be pickled due to the specific chemical composition. Summer cabbage does not crisp up and spoils from exposure to brine.

When buying forks, squeeze them in your hands - “correct” heads of cabbage will not be deformed. Inspect them for rotten or frozen leaves, and for traces of insect pests. The stalk of white cabbage suitable for winter fermentation has a light color - any spots and rings on it indicate putrefactive processes inside the stalk.

Remove all green or missing leaves from the forks and wash off any dirt.. From heads of cabbage that are fermented whole, the protruding part of the stalk is cut off.

How to ferment correctly

The rustic sauerkraut recipe does not involve the use of a large amount of spices, fruits, vegetables or berries.

Ingredients:

• cabbage - 2 kg;
• vegetable oil - 150 ml;
• vinegar - 150 ml;
• carrots - 2 pcs.;
• bay leaf - 3 pcs.;
• allspice peas - 3 pcs.;
• sugar - 3 tbsp. l.;
• salt - 2 tbsp. l.;
• garlic - 6 cloves.

Preparation:

1. Shred the cabbage into small strips.
2. The carrots are chopped on a coarse grater.
3. Mix vegetables.
4. Add chopped garlic.
5. Pour in the marinade and place the cabbage in a container.
6. Marinate for a day, stirring occasionally.

Marinade:

1. Place a pan of water on the fire.
2. Add salt, sugar, butter, pepper and bay leaf to the water.
3. After boiling, add vinegar.
4. Stir.

Recipe Variations

There are several versions of the recipe for country-style sauerkraut. They differ in ingredients, cutting method and fermentation.

Take note:

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Chopped

The cabbage is chopped, not shredded, for which not only a special tool is used, but also a container. Contact with the cook's hands during the cooking process is minimal, which eliminates the entry of pathogenic bacteria.

Ingredients:

• cabbage - 4.5-5 kg;
• medium-sized carrots - 1-2 pcs.;
• salt - to taste.

Preparation:

1. White cabbage is cut into 8-10 large pieces.
2. Place the vegetable in a container for chopping (for example, a wooden trough).
3. Chop with a special spatula, avoiding contact with hands.
4. The vegetable is salted so that the crystals immediately react with the vegetable juice.
5. The carrots are chopped on a coarse grater.
6. The vegetables are mixed.
7. Compact the workpiece into three-liter jars.
8. Cover the container with gauze and leave in a warm place for 3-4 days.
9. During all 3-4 days, the cabbage is pierced with a long pointed stick and the gas is released from it.

With beets

Spicy bright pink cabbage is prepared with the addition of beets, which gives the preparation not only color, but also a lot of useful substances: vitamins, sugars and minerals.

Ingredients:

• white cabbage - 1.3 kg;
• beets - 450 g;
• garlic - 6 cloves;
• water - 1 l;
• allspice - 3 pcs.;
• cloves - 3 pcs.;
• bay leaf - 1 pc.;
• salt - 2 tbsp. l.;
• sugar - 150 g;
• vegetable oil - 50 ml;
• vinegar (9%) - 150 ml.

Preparation:

1. Cabbage is cut into 8 parts.
2. The beets are cut into thin half rings.
3. Garlic cloves are cut into two parts.
4. The first layer of cabbage, garlic and beets is compacted at the bottom of the container.
5. The layers are repeated, filling the container to the top.
6. Add allspice, cloves, bay leaves, salt, sugar, vegetable oil, vinegar to the water collected in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
7. Pour boiling marinade over vegetables.
8. Cover with a lid and leave at room temperature for a day.
9. Afterwards, the workpiece is placed in the refrigerator for another day, after which it can be eaten.

Country style with hot peppers and herbs

Spicy cabbage with herbs is a snack version of country cabbage, suitable for feasts with strong alcohol.

Ingredients:

• cabbage - 10 kg;
• carrots - 500 g;
• pepper (bitter) - 2 pods;
• garlic - 4 heads;
• sugar - 800 g;
• salt - 400 g;
• water - 9 l;
• parsley - a bunch;
• dill or caraway seeds - one pinch.

Preparation:

1. The stalks are removed.
2. White cabbage is cut into large pieces.
3. Bring the water to a boil and dissolve salt in it.
4. The vegetable is placed in an enamel container and filled with brine.
5. They are placed under oppression for 4 days.
6. Take the cabbage out of the pan and finely chop it (do not drain the brine from the container).
7. The carrots are washed, peeled and chopped on a coarse grater.
8. The garlic is peeled and passed through a garlic press.
9. The pepper is washed and chopped.
10. Place cabbage at the bottom of a clean container; carrots, garlic, hot peppers, a pinch of dill or caraway seeds and parsley are evenly placed on top.
11. The cabbage brine is filtered, boiled and cooled.
12. Cabbage is poured with brine.
13. Leave for 2 days under pressure.
14. Add sugar and mix.
15. Place into small containers.
16. Store in the refrigerator.

Country style without vinegar

Let's consider the simplest rustic recipe for sauerkraut. It is accessible even to those who have no experience in preparing vegetables.

Ingredients:

• cabbage - 2.5 kg;
• carrots - 2 pcs.;
• salt - to taste.

Preparation:

1. Wash, peel and rinse vegetables.
2. Combine carrots and cabbage.
3. Add salt to taste.
4. Fill clean containers with vegetables.
5. Place under pressure at room temperature.
6. After 3 days, the workpiece is transferred to the refrigerator.

Read also:

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How and with what to serve

White cabbage Country-style sauerkraut is widely used in Russian traditional cuisine. The fish is stuffed with the preparation for baking, the vegetable is mixed with caviar, it is placed in pies and pies. Pickled vegetables are the basis for sour cabbage soup and tomato borscht. Cabbage is included in a number of recipes for game, pork and lamb; its sour taste perfectly complements fatty meats.

The preparation is added to vegetable stews and salads from fresh vegetables, it is served as an independent snack, seasoning with fragrant oil and onion rings, garnishing with berries, grapes, nuts, herbs, sun-dried tomatoes and fresh fruits.

Reference. The brine in which the product is stored is an effective cure for hangover syndrome. It restores the water-salt balance of the body poisoned by alcohol.

Terms and conditions of storage

Country-style pickled white cabbage can be stored all winter. At an optimal temperature of +1 to +4 C° - eight months. At room temperature, the vegetable will begin to oxidize after 3 days. You can preserve the freshness of the product by freezing. Then it is stored for up to a year, but vitamin C is destroyed.

Important! When storing pickled vegetables for a long time, do not pierce them with a long stick to release gas. It is only recommended to ensure that the workpiece is completely covered with brine.

Vegetables are usually stored in three-liter glass jars or plastic containers.intended for food products.

Advice from experienced housewives

On the Internet, housewives share the secrets of making sauerkraut.

Inga, Shakhty: “I started using a special machine for shredding; I used to do it by hand and spend a lot of time on the process. The machine looks like a grater, most often in an orange body, I use it to chop vegetables for pickling. The machine has both vertical blades with different cutting widths and horizontal ones. For a village recipe, I chop vertically on a centimeter nozzle, which has square cells.".

Margarita, Novorossiysk: “For a rustic recipe, I always use freshly frozen carrots, it gives the preparation a different taste. I chop freshly frozen carrots on a Korean carrot grater. You get beautiful orange sticks that really decorate the product.”.

Elizaveta, Magnitogorsk: “I once made a mistake, which I want to warn all housewives from: I pickled white cabbage in the country style at the end of August... It turned out that August cabbage is not suitable for preparing for the winter, it almost does not ferment, it becomes soft, loose and tasteless. Remember: green summer cabbage - for salad, white September cabbage - for preparation".

Conclusion

White vegetables, pickled according to village recipes, are a traditional Russian dish consisting of farm products that are available both to those who have vegetable gardens and to city residents who buy vegetables in markets and stores.

The inexpensive and tasty preparation is included in complex recipes and eaten as a separate dish. Store the vegetable in the cold at temperatures from +1 to +4 C° for eight months. At room temperature, the product will spoil in three days, and in the freezer it will lose valuable vitamin C. Have delicious and healthy preparations!