[Taste of China] Pickled sauerkraut: the ritual sense of winter in the Northeast

　　China News Agency, Changchun, November 15th, title: Pickled sauerkraut: the ritual sense of winter in the Northeast

　　Author Li Dan

　　Pickled sauerkraut is a ritual sense for Northeast people in winter.

　　Whenever the autumn wind rolls up yellow leaves, it's time for every household to stock up on cabbage.

Carts of tender green Chinese cabbage on the street and the shouts of vegetable farmers filled the atmosphere before winter.

　　A sauerkraut jar and a big stone were once a must-have for every Northeast family in winter.

　　On the open space downstairs in the community, rows of Chinese cabbage are stacked like crops dried after autumn harvest.

Storing autumn vegetables can be described as the most lively scene of the year in Northeast China.

When the water in the cabbage is partially evaporated and the outer leaves become soft, you can pickle sauerkraut.

　　"Salted pickled cabbage" needs to be washed first, "cooked pickled cabbage" is slightly scalded with boiling water, and "raw pickled cabbage" is not scalded, and it is directly put into the tank.

A layer of cabbage, a layer of salt, after the layers are full, pour clean water, press large stones, and then wrap the sauerkraut tank tightly with plastic sheeting.

　　Over a period of more than a month, the Chinese cabbage gradually fermented into sauerkraut with a soft sour taste, soft and crisp.

　　The method of pickling sauerkraut has a long history.

Jia Sixie, an agronomist in the Northern Wei Dynasty, recorded in detail the method of pickling sauerkraut with Sis (the ancient name of cabbage) in "Qi Min Yao Shu".

During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, Xie Yong, a minister of the Qing Dynasty, also recorded the method of making sauerkraut in "Food Taste Miscellaneous Songs Northern Flavored Sauerkraut": "At the beginning of the cold month, take salted vegetables into a tank, remove the juice, and cook in boiling soup."

　　In Northeast China, pickled cabbage is called "cloth shrinkage knot" in Manchu.

According to Shi Lixue, chairman of the Jilin Folklore Society, sauerkraut is indispensable among Manchu Chinese New Year’s pig-killing dishes, and sauerkraut hot pot is also a classic Manchu dish.

"When there was no fruit in the past winter, a sauerkraut heart was picked out of the sauerkraut in the cellar, and it could be a fruit meal for the children."

　　With the change of living conditions and living style, pickled vegetable jars have gradually disappeared from the corridors of Northeast cities, but the sense of ritual of pickling sauerkraut has been passed down from generation to generation.

Some people shred cabbage and pickle it and stuff it into bottles or jars, and some people soak it in white wine and other methods, and they can still pickle delicious sauerkraut.

　　"There is a large temperature difference between day and night in autumn in Northeast China, and the sauerkraut pickled with Northeast cabbage has a stronger flavor. Yellow cabbage is the first choice for autumn cabbage, which has high sugar content and low water content." Zhu Xianming, chairman of Changchun Zhulaoliu Food Co., Ltd., said that sauerkraut pickled just right The leaves are like amber, the leaves are like yellow silk, peeled off one by one, and the sauerkraut heart is like bright yellow beeswax.

　　Sauerkraut is the "universal dish" of the Northeast people. Stewed vermicelli with sauerkraut, stewed bones with sauerkraut, frozen tofu with sauerkraut, blood sausage with sauerkraut...don't care what kind of dish, as long as you add sauerkraut, it seems to add "live color and fragrance".

In different methods such as stewing, frying, soup, stuffing, etc., "pickled white meat with sauerkraut" is a classic delicacy.

　　Shredded sauerkraut and half-cooked white meat slices are melted in a pot and simmered slowly over low heat.

The sauerkraut absorbs the fat of the white meat, and the aroma is sour. The white meat slices are slowly slimmed down in the sauerkraut soup to remove the greasy taste and enhance the aroma. Then put a few slices of freshly poured blood sausage on it, which is tender and refreshing.

After a mouthful of sauerkraut soup, the whole body feels comfortable.

White meat and blood sausage can also be sandwiched and eaten with garlic sauce.

　　In Europe, Germans also like sauerkraut.

In 2016, when German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Shenyang, she was very fond of sauerkraut and boiled white meat, and asked the chef how to make Northeast sauerkraut.

　　Today, Northeast sauerkraut has also embarked on the road of large-scale production.

"The modern factory can effectively control the temperature and the contact between the pickling liquid and the air through the constant temperature sealed fermenter and the sauerkraut cold sterilization tank, so as to achieve a sealed anaerobic environment and make the acidity of the sauerkraut even." Zhu Xianming said, shredded sauerkraut is packed Into vacuum packaging, it can be sold all over China.

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