Sauerkraut – Traditional with Bacon

This is  a very popular dish to make in the winter time with produce from the stores.

Ingredients

1 large jar sauerkraut – 800-900g

100g smoked streaky bacon

1 onion

1 teaspoon caraway.

2-3  tablespoons of plain flour

Oil or bacon fat for frying

1 tablespoon granulated sugar*

 

*The acidity of sauerkraut varies very much and homemade is often not as acid.

*Rinsing bottled sauerkraut before use will lower the acidity.

*The amount of  sugar  you add to the dish is a personal preference – if rinsed 1 tablespoon should be enough – if not rinsed you might need 1 -2 tablespoons more.

 

Method

Drain the sauerkraut and keep the liquid ( you may want to use it to adjuct the acidity of the dish later ).

Rinse the sauerkraut with cold water.

Place the sauerkraut in a large saucepan and pour boiling water over it until it just covers it.

Add the sugar.

Bring to the boil and then cover the saucepan with a lid and let it gently simmer for around 10  minutes.

Continue heating either gently on top of the stove or put the pan with the lid into a low to medium oven.

Cook for  around another 30 minutes until the sauerkraut is soft.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the caraway seeds – put the dish  back into oven or keep on the stove with the lid on.

Chop the bacon into small squares and heat gently in a frying pan to release the fat.

Chop the onions into small pieces and add them to the pan and fry the onions until they are golden.

Sprinkle the flour over the onions and heat gently to brown the flour.

Add spoonfuls of liquid from the sauerkraut mixture to the onion mix.

Stir and heat to form a thickening roux/paste.

Add this to the sauerkraut mixture and mix throughly.

Put the pan back in the oven for around 10 minutes – or heat gently on the stove.

Sprinkle ground black pepper on the top before serving.

Serve with rye bread or boiled potatoes and hot roast pork or cooked Polish sausages.

 

Here served with Kolos rye bread,  from the Bradford Ukranian Bakery,  founded in 1961 and grilled Polish sausage from Torun (kiełbasa Toruńska) – the birthplace of the astronomer Copernicus (Kopernik ) – also famous for its spiced honey cake (piernik)

Served on Carnation by Royal Doulton, 1982 – 1998.