Every autumn and winter, many people buy Chinese cabbage. The Chinese cabbage at this time is large and sweet. It is delicious whether fried or pickled. Especially northerners often eat it. Pickle dozens or hundreds of pounds of Chinese cabbage at a time to make sauerkraut, so you don’t have to worry about no appetizers all winter. Many people know that pickling sauerkraut is easy, but it is not that simple to make it. Most people always pickle sauerkraut for the first time because it is rotten and smelly and cannot be eaten, and they waste dozens of kilograms of cabbage. In fact, it also requires skills. So today Lin Da will share it with you one by one.

How to pickle sauerkraut without it going bad?

How to make pickled sauerkraut sour and not rotten as follows:

1. Wash the Chinese cabbage and cut off the stems. If it is large, cut it in half. If it is small, it can be divided into slices. Because if you want cabbage to be better pickled and sour, you need to increase the contact area. You can cut it in half or quarters. If the amount is small, divide it into slices;

2. Add enough water to the pot. Bring to a boil, first blanch part of the cabbage stems in water for 15 seconds, then blanch the whole cabbage stems in water for 10 seconds until soft and green, take out. Blanching the cabbage can make the sauerkraut marinate faster. The stems are hard, so blanch them first, but the whole thing should not be too soft;

3. Put it in a clean and dried large vat, add a layer of cabbage and A layer of coarse salt is compacted and placed, and pressed with washed and dried large stones or heavy objects for a day. Note that there must be one layer of cabbage and one layer of salt, and do not add too much to each layer to avoid being too salty, and it will take a day to taste;

4. Heat a pot of hot water, add fennel and Sichuan peppercorns and cook After 10 minutes, add a spoonful of salt and let cool, pour into a large vat to cover the cabbage, seal, and marinate the sauerkraut for 1 month. The purpose of boiling water here is to sterilize, then add salt, let it cool, and pour in the cabbage to prevent the cabbage from rotting. It is generally marinated for more than 20 days before eating.

What three key points should you pay attention to when making pickled sauerkraut?

If you want the cabbage to be golden and sour, you must keep in mind the following three keys:

1. Blanch the cabbage once. This step is very critical. Many people pickle the sauerkraut directly. In this way, just washing it with water will not clean it. Moreover, there may be unwashed insects such as flying insects inside the cabbage, so it is easy to get rotten. So blanch it first. It can effectively sterilize and soften cabbage. It will easily become sour after pickling. Of course, blanch is also particular. First, blanch the cabbage stems for 15 seconds to soften them, then put them down and blanch them for about 10 seconds to allow the cabbage leaves to soften. Take them out together if they are green. Do not blanch them for too long, otherwise they will easily become rotten;

2. Add coarse salt when adding salt. This is also a point that many people make mistakes. You must use coarse salt when making pickled sauerkraut, because the penetration of coarse salt is slightly slower, pickled cabbage is not easy to rot, and coarse salt can maintain a long-lasting pickling effect for a month, while fine salt can maintain a long-lasting pickling effect. Salt is highly corrosive, and adding it may cause the cabbage to rot prematurely, and subsequent sterilization will not be able to achieve long-term sterilization, and it may become more likely to rot and stink;

3. When adding water, use cold boiled water and the cabbage must be submerged. Many people don’t understand this step. Some people think that they need to add tap water, and tap water is raw water, which is full of bacteria. No wonder your cabbage will be pickled. Some people know that they need to add boiling water but don’t add it. Add it when it is cool, causing the cabbage to simmer at high temperature. The correct way is to let it cool and let it boil. It is best to add some fennel and peppercorns at the same time to add flavor and add cold water, and the water must cover the cabbage to prevent the cabbage from contacting the air. For bacteria in the bag, it is best to add a layer of plastic bag to cover the outside and seal it with stones to completely isolate airborne bacteria.

Tips for making "pickled sauerkraut":

(1) When pickling sauerkraut, the rotten leaves and yellow leaves on the cabbage need to be removed as much as possible to avoid premature pickling. Rotting affects the taste and texture of other cabbages.

(2) You can also dry the pickled sauerkraut in the sun for 2 days to remove the moisture, and then pickle it. The texture can be crisper, but the yellow color must be completely removed before pickling the sauerkraut. cabbage leaves to avoid pickling other cabbages that may cause them to become rotten and change flavor.

(3) Finally, you need to add water to cover the cabbage for two purposes: one is to completely isolate the cabbage from air bacteria and facilitate better fermentation and sourness, and the other is to make the cabbage in the entire tank even. Eat enough salt in the water to make the inside and outside of the cabbage sour evenly into sauerkraut.

(4) The reason why the cabbage should be pressed with stones all the time is to reduce the gaps between the cabbage and not to bring more air bacteria into the cabbage, so that the cabbage can better communicate with the middle. Coarse salt will make it sour, and the pressed cabbage will not rot easily.

In fact, it is very simple to make a sour and delicious sauerkraut. As long as you read and save this article and seriously try to make it once, I believe that even if it is your first time, you can make it sour and appetizing for the whole family. Everyone loves to eat it! Come on Duck! !