Bulgarian sauerkraut, kiselo zele (кисело зеле), requires only brine and time to prepare. Unlike other methods of making fermented cabbage, in the Bulgarian method you pickle the whole head of cabbage rather than shredded pieces. Bulgarians characteristically make their kiselo zele in very large batches (20 heads or more) in large barrels fitted with a siphon to churn the brine periodically. Since I don’t eat sauerkraut in such quantities, and don’t have room for a 55-gallon drum in my apartment, I wanted to adapt the method for small batch production. This post documents my (very successful) results. Jump to the end for the recipe.
Of course people also make kiselo zele in smaller containers, such as 40-liter (10-gallon) plastic drums (bidons) or something of that size. A 10-gallon container would hold about 8 heads of cabbage; some Bulgarian recipes make 20 heads at a time and use a considerably larger container. My version will make 2 medium heads of cabbage, a perfect quantity for duck with Bulgarian sauerkraut. I make it in a large stock pot for which I have a heavy ceramic plate of just the right diameter to weigh down the heads of cabbage.
Fermentation basics
We make a lot of fermented foods here on Feastern Europe, as they do in Eastern Europe. Fermentation is a traditional method of food preservation. Pickling in a brine is one fermentation method; another uses yeast as in the kvass we made earlier. Fermentation creates a lot of flavor and beneficial microorganisms in food. The Bulgarian sauerkraut method uses a brine solution of about 3-4% salinity. It’s important to keep the solution saline enough to inhibit “bad” bacteria but not so much that it kills all biologic activity or imparts a too salty flavor. To determine how much salt to use, it’s easiest to use metric measures. For 3% salinity in one liter of water (1000ml) you need 30 grams of salt. Roughly translated that is about 1 oz (or 5 teaspoons) of salt per quart of water.
You can ferment just about anything with only the food to be pickled, salt and water. We are going to add a couple elements to lightly flavor the brine in this method. These items will be kept in the brine for a few days then discarded. Bulgarian recipes for kiselo zele usually call for apples, quince, onions, horseradish, carrots or some combination of those. If you can’t find a quince, substitute with a pear. Or skip these elements altogether and just use salt and water.
Getting started
To prep the cabbage for fermentation, remove any tough outer leaves and wash the head well. Make cuts in the core about two inches deep in a cross pattern. This will help the brine penetrate into the head. You can see in the photos that with just one head of cabbage in the pot it would float and bob all around.
Add a second head of cabbage or however many it takes to wedge the cabbage into your fermentation vessel. Cut up the flavoring elements you’re using (apples, onions, etc) and place in the pot with the cabbage. Then add enough water to cover the cabbage. Note how much water you used so you can calculate the amount of salt to add to obtain a solution of 3-4%.
Pull out a cup of water from the pot and dissolve the proper amount of salt in it. (I made a 3% solution for mine). Heat the water if needed to dissolve the salt. Stir this saline solution into the contents of the pot. Put a plate, board or other flat heavy object into the vessel to keep the cabbage submerged in the brine. Put a weight on the plate if needed to hold it. If you’ve wedged enough cabbage into the pot you may not need to add any weight.
The beauty of the percentage solution method is you can make as much sauerkraut as you like, constrained only by the size of your fermenting vessel.
The waiting game
Now that you have the cabbage submerged in brine together with the optional flavoring agents, cover the pot with a towel and a loose fitting lid. Set it somewhere cool, out of direct sunlight. Once every day or two, lift the plate and stir the water with a long-handled spoon. Agitating the water will keep the salinity even throughout the solution. After a few days, remove the apples, onions, etc and leave the cabbage in water alone.
After a couple weeks you may notice a little scum forming on the surface of the water and around the edges of the pot. Skim this away and wipe the vessel. The water will be somewhat cloudy but should not be discolored or stink badly. If you taste it the solution should have a mild vinegary flavor.
That’s all there is to it. Just keep checking it every day or two, stirring and skimming as needed. It will be ready in about 30 days (give or take). When you’re ready to use it, remove the cabbage from the brine and rinse it well. Remove the core, chop and use like sauerkraut in any recipe or as a side dish.
The recipe
Bulgarian sauerkraut (kiselo zele)
Equipment
- Large stock pot, jar or jug big enough to hold two heads of cabbage
- A plate or board that fits inside the pickling vessel, weighted if necessary
Ingredients
- 2 heads green cabbage
- 1 apple
- 1 small onion
- 1 quince optional
- salt kosher or pickling
Instructions
- Remove the dark, course outer leaves from heads of cabbage and discard.
- Cut an "X" deep into the core of each cabbage, penetrating at least 2 inches.
- Place cabbages into a large container, preferrably one that is large enough for the heads to be completely submerged under water but tight enough that the heads can stay wedged together and not float to the surface.
- Cover the cabbage completely with a known quantity of water.
- Cut the apple, onion and quince, if using, into quarters. Place in the water.
- Scoop a cup of the water into a measuring cup and dissolve enough salt in it to create a 3% salt solution (see notes for calculation).
- Pour salt solution into the vessel and stir everything together with a large wooden spoon.
- Place a plate or board on top of the cabbages to keep them submerged under water. Weight this down if necessary to keep it in place.
- Cover the vessel with a towel or other breathable cover to keep out debris but allowing it to breath. You can lightly cover it with a lid but do not tightly seal.
- Place the vessel in a cool place where it will not be disturbed. It's best to keep it around 70 degrees or so (a cool room temperature).
- Once a day, take off the cover and give the water a stir. If any white film or scum forms, skim it away. Add salted water if necessary to keep the cabbage submerged.
- After a few days, fish out the fruit and onions and discard.
- In about a month your sauerkraut will be ready. Rinse it well and discard the brine.
I am English and live in Bulgaria. I have been given a whole head of kiselo zele and a bottle of the brine from a neighbour. Can I shred the cabbage and store in sterilised jars? How long will it last.
Congratulations. I hope you will enjoy many meals with your zele. Understand I am not qualified to give proper food safety advice but if you keep the zele completely submerged in brine it should last for a good long time (presumably it’s been in brine for several weeks or even months already). It would be easier to store shredded probably unless you have a vessel large enough to accommodate it (and enough brine solution–but you can always make more with salt and water). But for convenience, if I were you, I would shred it, put it with brine in serving portions into sterile canning jars and process it in a water bath to seal the jars–especially if you don’t think you’ll eat it up over the next few weeks. If you don’t or can’t can it properly under vacuum, then put it in jars and keep it refrigerated for sure and try to use up more quickly.
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Perfect description of the proccess!
Sauerkraut bulgarian style is a key ingredient in some traditional Balkan dishes – kapama; oven baked pork/chicken with sauerkraut (and often rice); sarma/dolma – in that you need the whole leafs for wrapping the stuffing.
Chopped and sprinkled with paprika(maybe with a little olive/sunflower oil) It is a favored meze for winter “cooked rakia” drink – heated rakia sweetened with honey/sugar and spices, prepared in a Cezve. There is an old tradition in some regions when butchering the winter pig – the hostess serves the buthers fried/braised fresh bloody pork meet and liver, sauerkraut sprinkled with paprika and “cooked rakia” in tiny earthenware cups.
When cooking with bulgarian sauerkraut it is important to remember that it is very salty and be careful with adding additional salt to the dishes.
As a side note – the brine itself is a very prized product in Bulgaria. It can be used as a salad dressing, dish and cocktail ingredient, in other pickles, rtc. It is rather salty, rich in some vitamins and nutrients. It is also considered the best hangover cure :).
Daniel, thank you so much for visiting and leaving a comment. I’m glad you enjoyed the description! I didn’t know about the brine being used by itself. I will have to give that a try. I will be using the sauerkraut in other dishes for sure!