When is the best season to pickle sauerkraut?

We all know that sauerkraut tastes sour and spicy, and is crispy and chewy. It is a popular delicacy. Many people make sauerkraut at home, especially in autumn and winter. There are certain requirements for making sauerkraut, especially the time to make it. So when is the best time to make sauerkraut? Let's take a closer look!

What season is best for making sauerkraut?

Sauerkraut is generally easier to make when the temperature is below 10°C, but it cannot be lower than zero degrees Celsius. Frozen vegetables cannot be used to make sauerkraut.

The method of making sauerkraut is actually very simple. You just need to blanch the vegetables with boiling water (not too raw), then soak them in water and let them ferment and turn sour naturally. Then you can eat delicious sauerkraut. It is very simple, but there are some details that you need to pay attention to.

You only need vegetables and water to eat sour and delicious sauerkraut. No other ingredients are needed to make it successfully. It can be used for stir-frying or making sauerkraut fish. It tastes good. Let’s take a look.

How to make homemade sauerkraut

Ingredients needed: mustard greens, water

Preparation method:

Step 1: Buy a few kilograms of mustard greens according to the number of people in your family. Wash them slightly and place them in a ventilated place to dry until the leaves are slightly wilted. (--I put the mustard greens on the balcony to dry overnight.)

Step 2: Use a larger pot, pour in a pot of water, turn on high heat to boil the water and then turn off the heat (if there are a lot of greens, you can turn on low heat to keep the water slightly boiling to avoid the temperature of the water getting lower and lower later), then put the dried mustard greens in and blanch them. When the mustard greens change color, take them out immediately. Remember not to boil them, just take them out after blanching them. (--If the mustard greens are large, you can break off the leaves one by one before blanching them, so as to avoid overcooking the outside and not scalding the inside.)

Step 3: Take out the blanched greens and place them in a clean container without raw water. After the blanching water cools down, pour it into the blanched mustard greens, cover and seal, soak for one night. Observe the next day, the sauerkraut begins to turn slightly yellow, but still smells a bit choking. Soak for another 1-2 nights (2 or 3 nights in total), and the sauerkraut is ready. (--The blanching water must be cooled before putting it with the mustard greens, otherwise the residual heat of the water will cook the mustard greens, and the mustard greens will go bad if soaked for a few more days.)

Precautions for homemade sauerkraut

1. The mustard greens must be dried

In the first step, in addition to drying the moisture on the surface of the mustard greens, the moisture in the stems and leaves of the mustard greens must also be dried or dried in the sun. The sauerkraut made from such mustard greens will taste crisper and can be preserved longer.

2. Mustard greens should not be blanched for too long

When blanching mustard greens in boiling water, put the greens in and rinse them with water before taking them out. If you cook them for too long, the leaves will become soft. If you soak them any longer, they will not become sauerkraut. The leaves will rot in the water. So don't be afraid that the mustard greens are not cooked. Rinse them with hot water and take them out immediately. This step is the key to successful sauerkraut.

3. The water used for blanching is the key

Generally, pickled cabbage is soaked in boiled water without raw water to prevent it from going bad. In fact, this method of blanching and making sauerkraut was left by the older generation. In the past, in order to save water and effort, people would not prepare a pot of boiled water to pickle the cabbage. They would directly use the blanching water. However, the effect was very good. Using it to soak the sauerkraut can also preserve the original flavor of the sauerkraut, which is also quite good.