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So, I mentioned I was going to try to use up the rest of the red cabbage from my Asian Fusion Salad earlier this week. I did it!
Both Michael and I have German heritage. Mine’s paired with Danish and British, and Michael’s is paired with Swiss. While my family sure thinks it’s neat we have German heritage, we haven’t exactly kept it alive (we sort of keep the Danish side alive…). My dad speaks English and Africanse, my brother takes French, my sister knows American Sign Language, and the rest of us took Spanish. To be fair, my mom can say “where is Peter?” in German. Woot!
Michael’s family, on the other hand, has a rich German heritage and his family has very much kept it alive and well. His father and sister served church missions there and speak German fluently, German words find their way into normal conversations, and almost everyone in the family took German in school at one time or another. We have all sorts of German and Swiss recipes from his side of the family, and there were a few I’d never tried.
Rotkohl was one of them. I used the family recipe, and, while it was cooking, did a little more research on the subject.
As anyone who’s ever eaten some of the more popular German food knows, sauerkraut and other pickled/vinegary foods are quite common. For those who find sauerkraut a little too strong or sour (Heh… accidentally typed ‘sauer’), rotkohl is a sweeter, less pungent alternative.
Basically a sweet-and-sour braised red cabbage, rotkohl (pronounced “rote-coal”) can be made one of two ways. The first is a more vinegary, sauerkraut-ish version, and the second sweetens things and tones down the vinegar with the addition of browned butter. Michael’s family recipe uses browned butter, but I snuck a taste before adding it in, and found I liked it both ways.
We made a whole German meal out of the dish by pairing it with (what else?) grilled sausages and some German potato salad, complete with a warm, vinegary, bacon-infused dressing (recipe soon).
Note on the recipe: the flavor improves with time, so whether or not you add the browned butter, feel free to make it ahead of time and let it rest in the refrigerator. Just bring it to room temperature or warm it up a touch before serving.
- 1 head red cabbage, shredded
- 1 apple, grated (you can leave the skin, just remove the seeds)
- ½c apple cider vinegar
- ½c water
- ½c sugar
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- pinch cloves
- 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- *for sweeter version: 4 Tbsp butter
- Add cabbage, apple, vinegar, water, sugar, pepper, and cloves to a large pot. Cover and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook about 30 minutes or until tender, but still with a small bite. Drain liquid. Add in fresh lemon juice.
- *If making sweeter version: brown butter in a small saucepan by cooking it over medium-low heat until foamy and golden. Remove from heat and stir into cooked cabbage mixture with the lemon juice.
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Yeah definitely not making this one. But bless you for liking cabbage…its one veggie I only tolerate in certain forms (like ramen noodle salad, Asian slaw and, well, Asian food in general).
The only food I liked when i was in england was ethnic (Thai) or sweets (can we say french pastries???) Makes me think I’m not cut out to be a European.
Hi Anna,
your post makes me smile… just because, from my point of view as a European/German living in New Zealand: England would be the last place i’d send somebody to try it. ;o)
I’m pretty sure a visit in a french/german/austrian/italian… bakery or butcher shop would help you to give it another try.
But Rotkohl is definitely one of our winter favourites! Redwine braised beef & potatoes with it – soooo good!
I cook Rotkohl all the time. With Bratwurst and mashed potatoes. I am German and this is one of our favorite side dishes.
I am German and like Rotkohl as well. Our family recipe calls for red currant jam and goose fat – unfortunately I have a hard time finding those here in the US. Should you have access to it – give it a try!
Hi Emily! This red cabbage looks delicious. My husband is of German heritage and he would love it if I prepared a German meal for him. What other dishes would you recommend? I’m new to preparing German food so I’ve taken to researching it online, but would be very happy for any suggestions you may have!
Kristin – that’s so great! On Monday, I’ll be posting a German potato salad recipe, and then my husband’s family always loves to do grilled/cooked sausages (kielbasa, or Bratwurst, etc.) Between the potatoes, rotkohl, and sausages, we had a pretty full meal. I’ll look into some more ideas and post them here if I come up with any other good ones!
Dunno if you’re still interested, but you can’t go wrong with a good sauerbraten or rouladen! I do love me some german gulasch as well and round off the meal with spatzle. Mmm mmm good!
That’s wonderful, thanks! We are really looking forward to giving your German recipes a try!
I just made this tonight and it’s a little sweet in my opinion. Next time I think I’ll half the sugar and add more vinegar and lemon juice. I used to buy rotkohl all the time when I lived in Germany and I miss it so much! This recipe is close, just needs a little work to be right for me.
Thanks for posting!
YUM! Made this for a family dinner and we all loved it, which is a lot considering all but one of us had lived in Germany for a time and were used to eating it there. I did follow one commenter’s suggestion to cut the sugar in half and was happy with the result. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
I loved it! I used to do it year after year with Omi’s recipe,not for last two years, but i will do it for New Year’s Eve with Glaze ham.
My mom is German, I grew up eating smorkohl? That’s how I remember the name, I’ve been trying to make it several times through the years, but could never get it just how my moms tasted! She just said little this a little that!! Going to make it tonight!!!!
I made this recipe tonight and LOVED it! I have made similar dishes, but wanted to try this one because you mentioned it was authentic. I cut the sugar to 1/4 cup, added allspice in place of clove, and simmered for longer than 30 minutes- still came out great. It was served with grilled pork loin and potato salad with Dijon mustard and bacon. Thank you for the recipe.
Fantastich! Danke schoen.