With the onset of autumn, a particularly hot season begins for preparing blanks for the winter. Indeed, at this time, many vegetables and fruits ripen in large quantities and they can be bought for almost nothing, while after a month or two the prices for the same products will be very biting. It is customary to harvest sauerkraut for the winter as one of the very last ones - after all, its early varieties are not very tasty in sauerkraut. And the middle and late varieties become the most delicious after the first small frosts.
As a rule, each housewife has her own favorite and reliable recipe for fermenting white cabbage. But there is a way to ferment cabbage, which will interest anyone who loves tasty and healthy products - sauerkraut with honey. Indeed, in recipes where natural honey is used as an additive for fermentation, two of the most healthy products have been combined together, and if you have the opportunity, be sure to try to cook this incredibly delicious in taste, attractive in appearance and healthy in its properties dish. In addition, it can still be stored longer under normal conditions, because the antiseptic properties inherent in honey make it an excellent preservative.
Classic recipe
This recipe does not stand out as something particularly new; rather, it can be called old, since it was used to ferment cabbage more than a century ago. The composition of the components for making sauerkraut according to this recipe is very simple.
- White cabbage - large forks, weighing about 3 kg;
- Carrots - two medium or one large root vegetable;
- 3 dessert spoons without a slide of coarse salt;
- Honey, preferably dark in color, late varieties - 2 tablespoons;
- 5 black peppercorns.
Remove all contaminated and spoiled outer leaves of a cabbage fork and then rinse it well in running water. Then the forks are cut into several parts so that it is more convenient to chop each part into strips using a knife or a special grater.
Carrots are washed, peeled and rubbed on a coarse grater. Chopped vegetables are mixed in an enamel or glass container, salt and pepper are added, mixed and kneaded well.
Then clean heavy oppression is placed on top and left in a room with a temperature of about + 18 ° C + 20 ° C for 48 hours. At elevated temperatures, the fermentation process goes faster, but the taste of the cabbage deteriorates, and if the temperature is much lower, the process slows down, lactic acid is released in insufficient quantities and the cabbage can taste bitter.
It is necessary to pierce the workpiece daily with a long, sharp stick so that gases that accumulate during fermentation can freely escape from it. The foam that appears on the surface must also be periodically removed - harmful bacteria can accumulate in it.
After 48 hours, part of the brine is poured into a mug, mixed with honey, and the cabbage is poured again with this sweet solution.
After another two days with a prescription sauerkraut must ferment. Among the many recipes for sourdough cabbage, it is with this method that the souring process is the longest, but the taste of the preparation, as a rule, turns out to be more intense.A sign of the end of the fermentation process will be the transparency of the brine and the cessation of the appearance of air bubbles on the surface of the cabbage. The cabbage can now be moved to a cold place. The ideal temperature for storage is from + 2 ° C to + 6 ° C.
Brine sourdough method
The previous recipe is great for fermenting juicy cabbage varieties, which themselves release a lot of liquid during fermentation. But cabbage is different and it is not always possible to determine how it will behave in the fermentation process. Therefore, there is another method of sourdough, using which, you are guaranteed to get tasty and crispy sauerkraut.
You can use the same ingredients as in the previous recipe, but only pure spring water is added to them. You can use water passed through a good filter or boiled.
After cutting the vegetables, boil the water and dissolve the salt in it. For a liter and a half of prescription water, you will need about 3 dessert spoons of salt. Then cool the resulting brine to a temperature not higher than + 40 ° C. And only then dissolve 2 tablespoons of honey in it.
All recipes using honey imply this basic requirement, even if they do not explicitly state it.
It is advisable to sterilize glass jars before placing a mixture of chopped cabbage and carrots in them. Vegetables are packed very tightly and lightly crushed on top with a spoon. After the vegetables are laid almost under the very neck of the jar, it is poured with honey-salt brine and placed in a moderately warm place. It is necessary that the brine covers all the vegetables head-on.
Since during the fermentation process, part of the brine will rise up and go beyond the jar, it is better to put it in some kind of tray. Already after 8-10 hours after the start of fermentation, it is advisable to release excess gases from the workpiece by piercing it with a sharp fork or knife.
Cabbage prepared according to this recipe can be tasted within a day after production, although it will acquire its final taste only after 2-3 days. It should be stored, like any sauerkraut, in a cool and even cold place.
Spicy cabbage
If you feel like experimenting with the taste of sauerkraut, try this recipe. All the main ingredients are taken in the same amount as for the classic version. Cabbage and carrots are cut in a way convenient for you. But when making brine, in addition to salt, half a teaspoon of anise, dill and caraway seeds are added to boiling water. The brine, as usual, cools down and honey is thoroughly dissolved in it.
Further, everything happens in the traditional way. Cooked vegetables are poured with brine with spices and honey and placed in a relatively warm place. As usual, the cabbage can be considered ready and transferred to the cold, when gas bubbles cease to evolve and the brine brightens.
You can also use crushed apples, bell peppers, beets, grapes and cranberries to add extra flavor to the sauerkraut. Try different options and surprise your home with a variety of flavors of such a traditional preparation for all.
