Homemade sauerkraut

Olga from Albany

Homemade sauerkraut is a classic Ukrainian/Russian tradition and it’s really easier to make it than you might think! Did you know you could make a fantastic salad with it? It’s adoreble delicious.
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You can use Homemade sauerkraut in anything that you’d put sauerkraut in. Try it in the braised cabbage with beef … yum! Find two salad ideas bellow just for you.
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So, Firstly, ensure thay you buy the cabbage that are light in color and NOT bright green. Secondly, if you are using a soup pot for the fermenting process, don’t use aluminum.
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Ingredients for Homemade Sauerkraut:
2 medium/large cabbages (2 1/2 kg)
2-3 medium carrots, grated
2 Tbsp fine sea salt
1 Tbsp sugar
Or for the best effect use the seasoning for salting cabbage with horseradish "Сrispy" to replace salt and sugar (2 pacs). (You can buy it in our store)
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1. Remove the outermost leaves of the cabbage, cut it into quarters and shred cabbage finely. (discard the core, or trim it and eat it – it’s very tasty and healthy).
2. Grate the carrots.
3. In a large bowl (not aluminum), place cabbage, carrots, 2 Tbsp sea salt and 1 Tbsp sugar (or seasoning for salting cabbage with horseradish "Сrispy”) and scrunch and knead it together really well for the juice to be released from the cabbage (4-5 min). You don’t want it to be super juicy, just enough to cover the lettuce when you really pack it down in a jar.
4. Scrunch it by your hands. And scrunch it more. See the juice? All a result of good scrunching.
5. Fill a glass jar with the cabbage mixture and pack it in very tightly so that the juice from the cabbage covers the cabbage completely. You want a jar big enough to be filled only about 2/3 full so it has room to expand.
6. Make a press over the top of the cabbage by pushing down with a plate (or the lid from a large sour cream container). Top with a small jar of water, a super clean rock or whatever else would make a good weight. Place the lid on the jar but do not tighten (this is just to keep bugs out). Its a good idea to keep the bottle in the sink or over a dish since there is risk of it overflowing (this is also why we only fill it 2/3 full; it grows!). Let stand at room temp for 4 days or until sour. It will stop fermenting/rising when it’s done.
7. While it sits at room temperature, once each day: poke a few holes through the cabbage with the back of a wooden mixing spoon to release the gas that this process produces and pack the cabbage down tightly. If you are making a bigger batch, the poking process is more important to let the gasses escape.
8. After 4 days, refrigerate until ready to serve. Can be stored for a few weeks if kept very cold. Did you notice how the cabbage grew?
9. Afret all just put it to the fridge.

To serve, drain the amount of cabbage that you would like to eat by firmly squeezing out the excess juice with your hands. Add in your salad ingredients, mix well and serve. Its really easy!

Two ways to serve homemade Sauerkraut as a salad:
#1
1/2 small purple Onion, finely diced
2 Tbsp Sunflower Oil (preferred for more flavour), or olive oil

#2
1/2 small purple Onion, finely diced
1/2 Apple
1/2 tsp sugar
2 Tbsp white grapes or dried cranberries
1-2 Tbsp extra light olive oil (not extra virgin)

If you dont have enough time to homemake it but you wish about yum salad, we can help you. We offer for you three kind of delicious sauerkraut in our store (have a look to the photos).