INGREDIENTS:

= 1 large cabbage head – thinly shredded

= 1-2 carrots – thickly grated

= 2 table spoons of Kosher salt

= 2 table spoons of sugar

= 4 cups (1 liter) cooled boiled water

= 3-liter glass jar – carefully washed inside and outside

COOKING:

1. Dissolve 2 table spoons of salt and 2 table spoons of sugar in 4 cups of cooled boiled water.

2. In a large mixing bowl combine the shredded cabbage and grated carrots. Don’t press on the mixture too hard otherwise it will lose its crunchiness and will become soft.

3. Put the cabbage mixture into a clean and dry 3-liter glass jar, compressing it lightly – fill up the jar up to the rim. Pour the salty-sugary water into the jar. Cover the jar with a clean cabbage leaf to prevent its top layer from drying up. Alternatively, you can cover the jar with a clean cheese cloth.

4. Put the cabbage filled jar in a shallow bowl large enough to hold it and keep it in a warm place for 3-4 days to allow the juice to escape the jar. The juice will be collecting in the bowl. Keep the juice because you will need to pour it back into the jar.

5. Every day you will need to insert a long and thin wooden stick into the jar all the way to the bottom. Make 4-5 “holes” this way – it will allow the gas to escape the jar. Repeat this every day for 3-4 days.

There is another way of doing this – I usually take all the cabbage out of the jar into a large mixing bowl, and mix the cabbage a bit, “airing” it. Then I put all the cabbage back to the jar and pour the escaped juice over the cabbage. I repeat this every day for 3-4 day or, sometimes, add one more day. Once the fermentation process is over, cover the jar with a clean piece of cheese cloth and put it in the fridge. The cabbage will shrink by approximately a quarter of the jar.

If you were able to restrain yourself from eating your pickled cabbage on the 4th or 5th day, it will taste the best on the 7-8th day.

You can serve pickled cabbage with chopped green onions and olive oil; you can also use it for a Solyanka with sausages (Recipe in this blog).

Pickled cabbage is good as an appetizer and as a side dish accompanying meat or fish.