The method of pickling sauerkraut in northeastern China

 As soon as the winter storage of Chinese cabbage came on the market, every household in the Northeast began to pickle sauerkraut.

Pots of sauerkraut have been figured out in the long winter: sauerkraut stewed pork ribs, sauerkraut braised blood sausage, sauerkraut powder, sauerkraut dumplings...Catch the snow, and you can also have a pot of sauerkraut stewed goose .

Recently, I have seen many "spiritual northeastern people" learning to pickle sauerkraut on the Internet.

Don't worry, we specially invited teacher Jiang Niao Niao to share with you a "family practical method of pickling sauerkraut", and then using marinated sauerkraut to stew a pot of white meat with sauerkraut. In the winter that keeps cooling down, just indulge in this hot pot of sauerkraut~

01｜Household practical pickled sauerkraut

Picking sauerkraut according to the old method, the project is too big. But this can’t be troubled by our northeast big girl, teacher Jiang Curula. She shared this simple and convenient method of pickling sauerkraut, which is suitable for small spaces and does not require high tools. Young people can easily operate it at home.

The cabbage for pickled sauerkraut should be large and slightly green with leaves. First pick the rotten leaves outside, cut off the roots, and break the leaves piece by piece. First slice into slices, then cut into shredded cabbage for later use.

In fact, according to traditional methods, cabbage is pickled whole, but life in the city has little time to make such a large amount. Shredded and marinated, the operation is simple, and the cabbage fermented more evenly.

The chopped cabbage does not need to be washed, just add appropriate amount of salt and mix well. Salt can be antiseptic, sterilized, and promote fermentation, but the amount should not be too much. 50g of salt is enough for 10 catties of cabbage.

In the early years, people in the Northeast used wide-mouthed sauerkraut to pickle sauerkraut. For convenience, we prepared a large glass jar instead. The jars should be washed and sterilized in advance and kept dry.

Put the marinated cabbage shreds into a jar and compact it by hand, try to make no gaps in the cabbage shreds.

When pickling sauerkraut, a heavy stone must be pressed on top of the sauerkraut, which is the "ancestral sauerkraut stone" of the Northeast. Because sauerkraut will release water in the later stage of fermentation, pressing on a heavy object can prevent sauerkraut from floating out of the water, the skill makes the fermentation more fully and evenly, and can also isolate the air to prevent rot.

When filling the cabbage shreds, fill it up to 80% full, leave a certain space above the jar, put some dishes inverted to press the sauerkraut, this is regarded as a simple sauerkraut stone.

Finally, seal the bottle with a plastic wrap, tighten the lid and marinate in a dark place at room temperature. Pickled for about 30 days at the northeast temperature, and 20 days for Cantonese, sauerkraut can be eaten.

02｜Boiled white meat with sauerkraut

The refreshing sauerkraut is stewed together with fatty but not greasy sliced ​​pork belly, which is the famous dish of the Northeast-sauerkraut boiled white pork. If you add blood sausage, pork stick bones, pork liver, and large intestine, it will be the famous pig-killing dish in the Northeast!

First put the meat dishes in the pot and make a soup. Prepare a pot of water, add pork belly, big stick bones, blood sausage, pork liver, and fatty intestines.

Wrap the pepper, star anise, bay leaves, nutmeg, and dried chili into a seasoning bag and put it in the pot, then add the green onion, ginger, and salt to taste. Bring to a boil, skim the froth, turn to medium and low heat and simmer for 30 minutes, and you can take it out when it is 8 minutes old.

When learning to pickle sauerkraut just now, someone must be wondering: "Why don't the cabbage shreds wash?" This is not about hygiene, but because we are afraid that the cabbage will rot after being marinated in water. Let's save the step of washing sauerkraut for later.

The marinated sauerkraut shreds are thrown in cold water (wash and wash), dry the water, firstly to remove dust, secondly, it can also remove the excess sourness.

Take a saucepan and place the dried sauerkraut on the bottom of the pot, then add salt, thirteen spices, sugar, star anise, green onions, ginger, and garlic cloves to taste, then pour the freshly cooked meat soup and stew Cook for 15 minutes.

Cut the boiled pork belly into 3 mm thick slices, spread on top of sauerkraut, add some broth, and simmer for about 30 minutes on medium and low heat.

Don't be afraid that the crispness will decrease for a long time. Sauerkraut is the least afraid of stewing. Not only will the taste not be affected, but the more stewed, the more delicious it will become.

When cooking sauerkraut and white meat, cut the liver, fat intestines, and blood sausage into suitable sizes, put them on a plate, and make a meat dish assortment, which will be boiled in a sauerkraut and white meat pot for a while.

After 30 minutes, the sauerkraut is almost simmered, and some dried chili shreds are added to add color and taste.

This pot of sauerkraut boiled white meat, the soup is fresh, and the sauerkraut stewed in the broth is crispy and appetizing with oily flavor. The white meat slices that have been baptized by pickled cabbage soup are fragrant but not greasy. When eating, they are dipped in garlic sauce. In the northeastern dialect: "Xiangmeng circled"!