How Do You Prepare Sauerkraut?

[kmisz]

The last time I tried cooking sauerkraut I found it almost unbearably sour to eat. So I wondered, how do you prepare sauerkraut?

Do you rinse it before you cook it? Do you use it as a condiment only? Do I just have to get used to the sour taste?

[NCFishboy]

Sauerkraut = sour cabbage, if its not sour then its not sauerkraut, my opnion only. I don't cook with it and make my own sauerkraut but use it as a side to go with things. It is an aquired taste that some people just don't like. Part of the fun of sauerkraut is that is "alive" a bottle of bubbling goodness.

[Chile]

If you are willing to make your own sauerkraut from scratch (recipe here), then you can control how sour it gets. After a few days of fermentation, start sampling it every day until it gets to the flavor you like. Then cap it and refrigerate.

Some people say not to rinse sauerkraut because it washes away the probiotics but others suggest rinsing it to reduce the sodium content. When I make it, I just use small amounts as a flavor component, so I suppose that would fit in with your "condiment" idea.

On another note, if you get into making sauerkraut, it's not that hard to move on to making your own kimchi, too.

[sjsilver]

I think that sauerkraut by itself is too strong tasting. It has to be eaten with something more bland, such as potatoes or added to a sandwich. I remember when I was a kid, my Dad would bake ham with sauerkraut, potatoes and barley. Not sure how that meal would taste now, without the meat.

[Chile]

When I have freshly made sauerkraut or kimchi in the house, I enjoy a bowl of hot cooked brown rice with a scoop of cold sauerkraut or kimchi on top, dressed with some nice spicy Sriracha sauce. It's a high sodium meal but I don't have it regularly. In fact, I haven't made either in a couple of years.

[Joseph65]

Rinse it under cold water until you get the level you're comfortable with. Once you get it to the level you want sauté some onions, add the kraut with caraway seed and a bit of sugar to taste and cook it until it slightly darkens. Taste as you go along and add salt and pepper. The concept of kraut was a method to preserve the stuff it was never meant to be eaten right out of the jar unless of course you got the taste buds of a German. I like to eat mine with red potato boiled in the skin and peeled just before eating. I mix the potato in quarters with the kraut about 15 minutes before it's done to absorb some of the flavor from the juice. I makes for a wonderfully tasty meal and when made in batches tastes better the 2nd day. You can make a kraut and potato soap by adding a bit of the potato water to the mix.

[Faith in DC]

Different krauts taste different. I love sauerkraut, always have and always will. I eat it at least once a month for a couple days.

I think the taste of canned kraut is terrible. I like the fresh that is kept in the meat department. I don't rinse, as I think it would take away the flavor. I do season with caraway seed and celery seed. I put lots of taters in too. Sometimes I'll put in seitan for faux meat. I like spicy mustard on it when I eat it.

[kmisz]

These are some great answers. Thanks a lot!