Date Taken: 18/09/14, 3:08 PM (11 days old)
[dropcap]It’s[/dropcap] now a total of 11 days since the sauerkraut were made, and today’s update/taste test proves that the effort/process and wait has been very much worth it. I first tasted the sauerkraut on their 5th day of fermentation, and they tasted great then but I decided to give them a few extra days of brewing time hoping that their pickled/fermented flavour would mature and intensify some more. And it has, and it tastes amazing!
As far as I’m concerned, both jars of sauerkraut have fermented to perfection – although, this is the first time I’ve made sauerkraut so I can’t really compare it to one before, but I have made Lao pickled cabbage before and they’re actually very similar in both taste and look. Also, I apologize folks – sometimes I can get overly proud, especially whe it comes to homemade pickles!
As you can see in the photos of the sauerkraut jars, the sliced cabbage had expanded/fluffed up (immensely) again since the last update when I had pushed them down with a wooden spoon to re-submerge them. As advised by online sources, the sliced cabbage should always be submerged in the brine during fermentation – this helps prevent mold from developing. For some reason, I ignored this advise over the last 6 days and just left the sauerkraut undisturbed, to do its magical thing…
Fortunately, the oversight was not fatal, and when I opened the jar today, I saw neither mold nor nasties. Also, I did remember to push the sauerkraut back down again to re-submerge it, after scooping out a good spoonful to eat/cook. I was satisfied with the tastiness of the sauerkraut, so into the fridge both jars went to slow down the fermentation process.
The flavour of the sauerkraut today was clearly more mature/refined, intense and salty (and with a distinct albeit mild hint/element of fizz!) compared to 6 days ago. Also, I don’t know if it’s just my imagination or tastebuds playing up, but I honestly thought that the jar of red/white cabbage/sauerkraut tasted slightly different to the jar of just white cabbage/sauerkraut. I couldn’t pinpoint what the difference was but I genuinely believed they tasted slightly different.((1)) Perhaps, my eyes were playing tricks with my mind whilst eating the red sauerkraut, or maybe I just randomly bit into a caraway seed or juniper berry, or something.((2))
Either way, both jars of sauerkraut tasted great – salty, cabbagey, pungent, crunchy/squeaky, and full of probiotic goodness!! I ate them raw and lightly cooked/sautéed in a bit of lard with smashed garlic cloves. Because the sauerkraut were not washed/rinsed before cooking, they retained their distinctive saltiness afterwards – this was perfectly fine with me. After being cooked, the texture of the sauerkraut had softened and it became less crunchy, and the flavour was also less raw/fresh.
I served the cooked sauerkraut with pan-fried fat pork sausages and homemade mustard, and it was a winning combination! bigsmile All I can say is that I’m glad that I made the sauerkraut, and I hope you give it a try too. It’s so easy to make, and it’s both delicious and great for your gut flora!
Oh btw, stay tuned for a Heidi Klum inspired sauerkraut fish soup/stew recipe coming soon to a food blog near you. Thank you good readers. Talk to you soon!
Raw red cabbage sauerkraut.
Cooked red cabbage sauerkraut. Lightly/quickly sautéed in lard with smashed garlic clove.
Date Taken: 18/09/14, 3:37 PM (11 days old)
Raw white cabbage sauerkraut.
Cooked white cabbage sauerkraut. Lightly/quickly sautéed in lard with smashed garlic clove.
Cooked white and red cabbage sauerkraut served with fat pork sausages and homemade mustard. Mmmm!! bigsmile
Note: The homemade mustard was made by mixing 3 TBSP of lightly ground yellow mustard seeds, 3 TBSP of mustard powder, 1 TBSP of brown sugar, 2 TBSP of pickled malt vinegar, 2 TBSP of verjuice, 2 TBSP Shaoxing rice wine, 1 tsp of sea salt, ground black pepper and 1 minced garlic clove. This makes about ½ a cup of mustard. After mixing the ingredients together in a bowl, transfer the mustard into a glass jar and store in the fridge for 12 hours (overnight) before using it. It tastes amazing!! bigsmile The recipe was adapted from the Basic Country Mustard recipe provided by Hunter Angler Gardener Cook. Thanks very much Hank Shaw!
bigsmile Nom!
[[1]]At first, I thought the red mix sauerkraut tasted sweeter, but after further eating and deeper thought/consideration, I lost the distinction just like that![[1]]
[[2]]From my research online, many sources state that both red and white cabbage tastes the same, but 1 source does state that red cabbage tastes different to green cabbage. Emma Christensen at The Kitchn states ‘We think the flavor is a little deeper and earthier’. Reference: http://www.thekitchn.com/know-your-cabbages-green-red-s-112856.[[2]]