Homemade sauerkraut

Cobleskill

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Western New York near Lake Ontario
My buddy and I made about 40 pounds a little over 2 weeks ago. They say it isn't all done with its process until 4 to 6 weeks, but you can eat it at any stage. It already has about the same tang as store bought. Uncanned is supposed to be much better for you as well. It only foamed up for a little over a week. I have been wanting to make it for a couple years. I found an antique shredder for a few bucks and Mom gave me a 2 gallon crock. My bud had a 6 gallon so we should have enough to give away.

I pulled out a pint for me, one for my bud who helped make it, and another pint for another friend last night. Mine was gone today. Good stuff.


Anyone else make it or like it? I carefully measured the salt as I am not a salt fan. That is the one thing that is not really good for your health in it. 3 tablespoons/ 5 pounds cabbage.
 
Shouldn't that be called 'Victory cabbage' ;)

I remember first eating Saurkraut whilst working in Germany years ago. I was amazed cabbage could actually be enjoyed as part of a meal. my mother used to boil cabbage till it was dead.

I recollect landing in this Bavarian hotel at 1am a few years ago, and the proprietor serving up amazing steaks with chips (french fries for my misguided american friends) and lashings of saurkraut. Food of the gods.
 
My Slovac friends make their own and it is yummy. They also make this soup with it called (kapustnetsa), I totally butcher that.
 
I'd like to try it. Lettuce is ridiculously expensive here during the winter, we eat cabbage in place of it instead.
 
I LOVE homemade sauerkraut. I'm into almost any kind of fermented food. Except fermented tofu. That's a little too stinky for my taste.
 
I did notice tobasco on the list. I watch bizarre foods a lot and find it really interesting that so many cultures love fermented foods. To take good fresh ingredients and then ferment them to taste is amazing to me. They must spend so much time covering fermented foods because it seems that fermented stuff is the ultimate food taboo to a lot of Americans.
 
I'd say the most popular fermented food in America by a long shot is BEER. Some might argue about calling it food, though.
 
Leon, you must mean fermented soy beans, not tofu also made from soy beans. I eat it regularly, and good for you!
 

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Jay, I see that you are not familiar with the delicacy known in Chinese as "chou tofu", literally translated as "stinky tofu". The pungent fragrance of this fine food product especially when deep fried can be smelled from blocks away, and in the uninitiated will evoke the innocent question: "What the hell died around here?".

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Actually, if you can get past the smell, the taste is pretty good. I also dig the fermented soy beans.
 
So much for the thought that tofu is a rather pure food. It looks better to stick with the variety I'm already familiar with, but thanks for the stinky introduction.
 
That danged saurkraut gives me gas even before I get done eating it .I don't eat a lot of it and in fact probabley never touched it for 20 years after I moved away from home .My maternal grandmother although born in this country was 100 percent German .As such my father just loved it .

He would plant a zillion huge flat dutch cabbage and make a scad of saurkraut in huge crocks in the basement .
 
Now kimchi is something else .It could be made a number of ways and one is out of radishs . Talk about hot now,boil the water out of the toilet .

I had a lady friend once that ate it like it was candy .She was like kissing a volcano .I'll leave the rest to the readers imagination .;)
 
Funny, Al. Real kimchi is supposed to have raw squid in it. The koreans make the best that I've tasted, the homemade variety.
 
The Korean stuff is the best you say, but does that mean it is good? I have had canned tomato soup and home made tomato soup, neither was good. I will admit that the raw squid component sounds interesting.
I would like to try kimchi. There is a lot of stuff you dont get to try stuck in the north country.
 
Good to the point of habit forming. It's on the table at every meal if you are at a Korean's house. I think the hot spicey might be the cause of their somewhat volatile personalities.
 
So get Kim Jong-un hooked on McDonald burgers and he'd stop being a silly despot, you mean?
 
We have several dishes of pickled cabbage - sauerkraut soup called "sour chie" (кислые щи) Unfortunately in the English language has no letter "щ"...( Soup of green sauerkraut leaves called "gray chie" (серые щи), stewed sauerkraut with pork, pies with a roasted sauerkraut. From fresh cabbage has a lot of dishes. Such as borscht (борщ) (I can see how Jay licked his chops:)) ...
 
I love borscht.
I have a couple of different recipes that I use.
One is cold borscht for summer consumption.
 
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