Ukrainian Recipes: Baba's Old-Style Sauerkraut
This recipe is by Ken Horechuk, from "Hot off the Grill: Family Favourites", the Parish cookbook for 2003 from Holy Ghost Ukrainian Catholic Parish in Sydney (where my family comes from).
| INGREDIENTS | ||
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50 lb cabbage 5 lbs onions 1 pkg pickling spice 1 small pkg bay leaf 5 gal plastic pail |
1 seasoned piece of hardwood or plastic 1 large heavy smooth beach stone |
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- Shred cabbage and onions together (10 to 1 ratio) and layer into plastic pail. Mix enough salt to start the curing process.
- Pack each layer using downward pressure (re: wooden stick) until ingredients extract some liquid juice. Add 1 or 2 bay leaves and 2 tbsp pickling spice wrapped in gauze or cheesecloth.
- Repeat steps one and two until pail is almost full.
- Cover cabbage firmly with cheesecloth. Place hardwood or plastic on top of cheesecloth. Place beach stone on top.
- Leave pail in warm area to ferment. Drain off juice once a week leaving enough juice to cover wood or plastic.
- Clean stone, cheesecloth, etc. once a week as mold will form as cabbage is curing.
- Taste each week for desired flavour (usually 3 to 4 weeks).
