Sauerkraut with honey
This recipe for sauerkraut with honey isn't the quickest, but it uses only natural ingredients. The ingredients are few: white cabbage, carrots, salt, and honey, which is added to the brine instead of sugar. Honey not only gives the cabbage a pleasant slightly sweet flavor, but also makes the finished snack much healthier.
Choose late-ripening cabbage varieties; they're ideal for pickling, remaining crisp and firm. Any honey will do, but it's best to choose one without a strong flavor or tart bitterness, like buckwheat honey. Linden, flower, or May honey are all good choices, but the key is to use natural honey without added flavors or aromatics.
The amount of ingredients in the recipe is calculated for a 3-liter jar.
Ingredients:
- white cabbage – 1 head weighing about 2.5 kg;
- carrots – 2-3 pcs.;
- boiled cooled water – 1 liter;
- coarse table salt – 2 tbsp.;
- liquid honey – 1.5 tbsp;
- change cumin – a pinch (optional).
How to make sauerkraut with honey
Trim the cabbage head, removing any wilted or damaged leaves, and rinse. Cut in half, grate through a shredder into thin, medium-length strips, or shred with a knife.
Add coarsely grated carrots. You need enough carrots to be noticeable among the cabbage; too little will ruin the flavor. You can add a pinch of caraway seeds along with the carrots for added flavor.
Mix the cabbage with the carrot shavings using your hands, lifting them from the bottom and sort of wrapping them up.
Fill a three-liter jar about a third full, compact it slightly, pressing the cabbage with a masher or your fist.
Adding little by little, fill the jar to the top, periodically compacting the cabbage.
To preserve the honey's beneficial properties when heated, add it to cooled boiled water. Add table salt to dissolve the crystals. If there's noticeable sediment at the bottom, strain the brine through cheesecloth.
Pour enough of the prepared brine into the jar with the cabbage to completely cover the top layer. Cover with a lid, leaving a gap for air and brine to escape. Place the jar in a deep bowl or plate and move it closer to a radiator or another warm place. Let the cabbage ferment for three days, piercing it several times daily to allow gases to escape. Pour any overflowing brine back into the jar, ensuring the cabbage remains sufficiently covered with brine at all times.
After three days, place the jar of sauerkraut in a cool place or in the refrigerator, where the fermentation process will continue for another three to five days. During this time, the cabbage will develop its flavor and be fully cooked. Enjoy!
