Sauerkraut has been a favorite delicacy for several generations of Russians. Without this dish, it is difficult to imagine an everyday meal and even a gala dinner. There are many recipes for making sauerkraut, but not all of them allow you to preserve the natural crunch of the product. And the secret is quite simple - cabbage retains its structure and elasticity if it is salted with brine.
It is necessary
-
- - 2 heads of medium sized cabbage
- - 200 grams of shredded carrots
- - 0.5 cups table salt
- - 2 liters of boiled water
- - deep plastic dishes for 3 l
- - colander
- - sharp knife with a long blade
- - wooden keg for fermentation
- - dill grains
Instructions
Step 1
Peel the top leaves of the cabbage forks and trim away any dark spots. Then rinse each head of cabbage under running water.
Step 2
Cut the heads of cabbage in half so that the whole stumps remain in one of the halves. Chop the cabbage very finely with a sharp knife and stir in the carrots. But do not forget that shredded cabbage should be slightly wider in length than grated carrots. Compliance with these proportions will preserve the natural crunch of the product after salting. It should be remembered that the stump must be cut off with a slight indentation, since the cabbage leaves can be bitter at the base.
Step 3
Take a deep dish and add all the salt. After that, add a small amount of boiled water and start stirring until the salt is completely dissolved. As the brine dissolves, add water until there is enough water to completely immerse the colander.
Step 4
Dip the cabbage in a colander in portions into the brine so that the whole mass is completely covered with the brine. Pour cabbage into a colander no more than half. To enhance the brine, each portion can be left in the brine for up to 1 minute. After, the cabbage should drain.
Step 5
Pour the cabbage into the fermenting vessel. And pour a little brine on top like this. After that, the remaining solution is no longer required and can be drained. If you don't have a wooden barrel at hand, you can replace it with an enamel pan.
Step 6
Sprinkle each layer of cabbage with a small amount of dill seeds and, after laying the whole mass, close the lid. If you are using a saucepan, then you need to take a plate that is smaller in diameter than the width of the vessel and place it on top of the cabbage. From above, the plate must be pressed with a press in the form of a bowl filled with water.
Step 7
Drain the resulting brine as the cabbage picks up if it starts to flow out of the keg. It should also be remembered that if in the first three days the cabbage secretes excess juice, then the press needs to be slightly loosened.
