Braised cabbage and sauerkraut

Why

Sauerkraut is cabbage fermented with a little salt, during which lactic acid bacteria produce lactic acid; this gives it flavour and also firms up the cell walls, so sauerkraut softens more slowly than fresh cabbage. Rinsing takes away some sourness but also flavour, so only very sour sauerkraut is rinsed, and only briefly. Czech braised sauerkraut served with dumplings is cooked with onion in lard and caraway, thickened at the end by dusting with flour and seasoned with sugar and, if needed, vinegar until it tastes sweet and sour. Fresh cabbage contains sulphur compounds that release more and more pungent sulphurous notes the longer it cooks, so it is best cooked fairly briefly; sauerkraut is traditionally braised for longer. Red cabbage owes its colour to anthocyanins, which stay red in acidic conditions and turn blue in alkaline ones, which is why vinegar, wine or apple is added; home fermentation has its own recipe, and this card covers only the cooking.

How to do it

• Taste the sauerkraut first; rinse it briefly only if it is very sour.
• Fry onion in fat, add the sauerkraut and caraway, add a little water and braise covered until tender.
• Don't cook the cabbage longer than it needs; once tender, thicken it by dusting with flour and simmer briefly.
• At the end, season with sugar and vinegar a little at a time until sour and sweet are in balance.
• Always braise red cabbage with a little vinegar, wine or apple so it doesn't turn blue.
• Don't keep sauerkraut or its juice in uncoated aluminium cookware.

If it goes wrong

Balance overly sour sauerkraut with sugar, a little fat or some extra fresh cabbage and rinse it briefly next time; season sauerkraut that has lost its flavour through rinsing with vinegar and caraway. A spoonful of vinegar or lemon juice brings blue red cabbage back to red. The sulphurous smell of overcooked fresh cabbage won't go away; cook it for less time next time.