What to use instead of sauerkraut
It depends entirely on what it's doing in the dish. Here's the job, what else does it, and what to skip.
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Sour fermented body in a long-cooked pot
The lactic acid cuts through pork fat and the shreds soften without dissolving, so the pot gets its sourness and its texture from the same ingredient.
Kimchi, rinsed and drainedRan out
Match by weight
Brings chili, garlic and often shrimp with it, so pull the other chili out of the recipe. The pot turns Korean.
CurtidoRan out
Match by weight, plus 1 tbsp vinegar per cup
Milder and sweeter with oregano and carrot in it, and less sour, which is what the extra vinegar is covering.
Pickled turnip or other fermented vegetables, choppedRan out
Match by weight
Sour in the same way with a rooty flavour, and it stays firmer through a two-hour simmer than cabbage does.
Fresh cabbage with vinegar and saltRan out
1 lb shredded cabbage + 3 tbsp white vinegar + 1/2 tsp salt per 1 lb kraut
The sourness sits on the outside of the leaf rather than running through it, and there is none of the funk a real ferment brings.
What doesn't work: Coleslaw mix or plain bagged shredded cabbage. Neither has any acid in it, so the pot goes sweet and watery and the sausage fat has nothing cutting through it.
Cold sour crunch inside a hot sandwich
It goes in cold, acidic and crunchy against melted cheese and fatty meat, and the acid is the only thing stopping the sandwich reading as pure fat.
Vinegar-dressed coleslaw, squeezed dryRan out
1/3 cup per sandwich
Sweeter and creamier, and it soaks the rye faster. This is the line between a Reuben and a Rachel.
Kimchi, chopped and squeezedRan out
1/3 cup per sandwich
Hotter and more pungent, and the Swiss tastes sweeter against it. The juice will stain the bread red.
Giardiniera, drained and choppedRan out
1/3 cup per sandwich
Crunchier and oilier, with celery and pepper flavours where the cabbage was.
Dill pickle slices, patted dryRan out
4 to 6 slices per sandwich
The acid is there but there is no bulk to it, so the sandwich is thinner and the crunch only shows up in spots.
What doesn't work: Kraut straight from the jar without squeezing it. The brine soaks into the rye and the grill steams the sandwich instead of toasting it, so the bread tears the moment you cut it.
Sour leaves that wrap a filling
Whole soured cabbage leaves are already pliable and already seasoned, so they roll without blanching and salt the parcel from the outside in.
Fresh cabbage leaves, blanchedRan out
1 leaf per roll, blanched 3 minutes, plus 1 tbsp vinegar in the pot
Pliable but bland, so all the sourness has to come from the braising liquid and the rolls taste sweeter.
Brined grape leavesRan out
2 leaves per roll
Much smaller parcels with a tannic, lemony edge, and they hold together better through a long braise.
Collard leaves, blanchedRan out
1 leaf per roll, blanched 2 minutes, plus 1 tbsp vinegar in the pot
Tougher and darker, tastes greener, and it survives two hours in the oven without splitting.
What doesn't work: Chopped jarred kraut as the wrapper. There is no whole leaf left in the jar, so there is nothing to roll. Use it as the bed under the rolls and blanch fresh leaves for the wrapping.