Braised Sauerkraut with Pork Belly and Onion Recipe
Alongside the perfect sauerkraut appetizer with onion and sunflower oil, braised sauerkraut with pork belly is every bit as tasty. Depending on the occasion, it can be either a starter or a main course. In season there is always sauerkraut in the house, and braising it is no trouble at all.
The remarkable process of fermentation – lactic acid fermentation, to put it scientifically – gives us plenty of excellent homemade foods and preserves. Fermented tomatoes, for one: having no cellar, we ferment them in jars in the fridge, and they turn out wonderfully. For us, fermented tomatoes are the first sign of autumn. Every year my mother puts up a good many fermented cucumbers, which she preserves in one-liter jars; they sit in the pantry, intimidating me with their brine.
But sauerkraut usually comes first – it is good enough to put on any table, and if it all gets eaten, so much the better. I once read that sauerkraut is a national food in many countries around the world. First, sauerkraut is delicious. Second, it is very good for digestion. And third, sauerkraut is a great ingredient for all kinds of more elaborate dishes. In that respect, braised sauerkraut is probably one of the easiest of them to make.
There are many dishes in the world built around braised cabbage. It can be white cabbage, or savoy cabbage, which is delicious braised; and the cabbage can be either fresh or fermented. Homemade bigos, for example, is at its best when made with both fresh and fermented white cabbage.
If you keep sauerkraut at home, or can always buy it at a local market, braised sauerkraut can become a regular on your home menu. The cabbage braises without any added liquid, in its own juices. The recipe is simple, and if you don't eat meat, you can always leave it out. Still, cabbage with pork belly has a special, refined flavor.
Ingredients
2 servings
- Homemade sauerkraut 0.5 kg
- Pork belly 300 g
- Onion 3-4
- Vegetable oil or lard 1 tbsp
- Salt, black pepper, coriander, bay leaf to taste
Pickles to serve with
Step-by-step recipe
- A friend of mine considers braised sauerkraut a snack to go with drinks, and enjoys it that way. For me, it is a tasty, filling meal – a main course. But anything goes. In the cold months of the year we always have sauerkraut on hand. Mostly we make a sauerkraut salad with sweet red onion and fragrant sunflower oil. It goes exceptionally well with fried potatoes.
- We make homemade bigos from a mix of fresh and fermented cabbage with pork ribs and prunes, following an old family recipe. Before the holiday feasts, bigos is cooked in a big batch and reheated as needed. I have read that some people even freeze it.
- Braised cabbage is tastiest with pork belly – the part of the belly where the rib bones have not yet started and there is only a little cartilage. This cut has little cartilage and plenty of meat. And there is not much fat in it at all.
- Cut the pork belly into slices 5-7 mm thick, then cut the slices into fairly large pieces. If there is some well-cleaned pork skin left on the pieces, you can leave it on. There is no need to salt the belly or add spices.
- If the belly is fatty enough, it will render some pork fat as it fries. If the meat is lean, heat 1 tbsp of lard or vegetable oil in the frying pan. Fry the pork belly over medium heat until golden brown. To brown it evenly, stir the belly often and don't cover the pan with a lid.
- Peel the onion and cut it into thick strips. Add the onion to the fried belly and keep frying until the onion turns a nice golden color. Take care not to overcook the onion, or the dish will have a noticeable burnt taste.
- Add the homemade sauerkraut to the fried belly and onion. Sauerkraut usually has enough liquid and brine of its own. By the way, if for some reason you need to add liquid to the pan, it should be cabbage brine.
- Season the sauerkraut with black pepper and add 1-2 pinches of ground coriander and 1-2 bay leaves. Gently stir the sauerkraut and pork belly together. Cover the pan with a lid and wait until the liquid starts to boil. Immediately turn the heat down to the minimum and let it cook – this takes quite a while.
- The cabbage cooks for at least 1 h 30 mins. Any less, and it will just be ordinary sauerkraut, only hot. The sauerkraut needs to lose most of its moisture and start turning light brown – the first sign that it is cooking the way it should.
- Stir the cabbage from time to time and make sure there is always a little liquid in the pan – literally just barely visible on the very bottom. Half an hour after the braising begins, take out the bay leaves and discard them. Salt braised sauerkraut very carefully – plenty of salt goes in during fermentation. Salt only to taste, or better yet, not at all.
- It takes about 2 hours for the sauerkraut to cook properly. At the very end of cooking, if there is still liquid in the pan, remove the lid and let it evaporate, turning the heat up a little. The cabbage should have no liquid left. Prunes go into bigos, but sauerkraut is sour enough, so this recipe doesn't need them.
- Braised cabbage with pork belly is served hot, with fresh bread.
- Arrange the braised sauerkraut on plates. If the dish is served as a starter, small bowls or ceramic dishes work best. As a main course, serve it on large rimmed plates.
- By the way, braised cabbage makes an excellent side dish, and without the pork belly it is a superb vegetarian dish.
| Yield: | 2 servings |
| Calories: | 126 kcal per 100 g |
| Prep time: | 30 mins |
| Cook time: | 2 h |
| Total time: | 2 h 30 mins |
| Category: | Main Dishes › Meat Dishes |
| Cuisine: | European |
| Rating: |
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5
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