Healthy fermented foods (3) - Sauerkraut from Germany

I like German ryebread very much and have once introduced it in this blog as an emergency food for a disaster as it keeps for a long time. It is sour and rich in nutrition. Recently, I often eat another German food that is also sour and nutritious. It is sauerkraut or sour cabbage. According to Wikipedia, it is fermented by various lactic acid bacteria and is a high source of vitamins C and K.

I found this bottle in Meidi-ya in the basement of Entetsu Department Store. The ingredients are only two: cabbage and salt. It must be a real traditional type.

At first, I was worried to find that the lid was too tight to open. I held the bottle upside down and soaked the lid in hot water in a pot for a while. It worked, and I finally managed to open it. The bottle was filled with cabbage up to the brim!

Sauerkraut is finely cut, pale, sour, and juicy. It’s totally different from green crispy raw cabbage I know. When I ate sauerkraut for the first time, I was surprised to learn that raw cabbage can become so soft. I eat it with German ryebread sometimes. As both of them are sour, maybe some other tastes should be added.

Sauerkraut can be used also in soup. This soup contains sauerkraut, tomato, dried daikon radish, broccoli, potato, onion, carrot, and a pinch of salt. It was just mixture of vegetables in the refrigerator. When I took this picture, I noticed the smell of sauerkraut. It increased my appetite.

As tomato is also sour, I wasn’t sure how much sourness came from sauerkraut. But the soup was tastier than tomato soup I made before without sauerkraut. Even if you think sauerkraut is too sour and is not very delicious, you can use it in soup or other dishes to add an extra flavor. But I prefer eating it raw. It has a kind of addictive taste, and it won’t take long before the bottle gets empty.