In March this year I went to stay with my parents while my bathroom was being renovated. I took the opportunity of staying with my Mum to get documented some of my favourite childhood recipes and other family favourites. I have been sharing these on the blog over the last couple of months, including this recipe for beef wellington, this recipe for lambs fry, my Nanna’s curried corned beef and just recently my Mum’s carrot and turnip mash.
Today I am sharing the last of those recipes that I managed to extract from my Mum – her pickled red cabbage recipe. As you might have guessed from the lambs fry and the curried corn beef, I was lucky to grow up in a family where there was variety in what we ate. I had friends who lived on meat and three veg and at the times I envied them their standard fare – especially when Mum served osso bucco, but I now appreciate the foodie opportunities my Mum encouraged in me (though still not osso bucco).
I loved having pickled red cabbage as a snack after school. I probably would have preferred chocolate anything but as a non-chocolate option, pickled red cabbage was right up there with pickled onions. And I still love my pickled food – my Mum always puts out her pickled red cabbage when she is serving cold meats and salad for lunch and it is one of my favourite parts of that lunch.
Salting the cabbage
If you are looking for alternative to your usual summer fare then you have to try this cabbage. It is lovely and spicy with a tartness from the pickling. It keeps well and is great for adding a splash of colour to any meal. Mum did make one change to her usual recipe, using apple cider vinegar instead of malted vinegar and now prefers the apple cider vinegar version. But if you have malted vinegar in the house, this is still a winner with me.
This is a super low calorie side. I have said you get about 5 sides out of this recipe, but they are fairly small serves. But it is the kind of dish that a small amount is divine but eat a lot and it gets a bit much.
- 1/4 of a red cabbage (if you do a lot more than you can eat then it will go soft and not be as nice)
- 2 tbs of pickling spice (Mum gets this at the supermarket in the area with the packets of spices)
- 1 cup of apple cider vinegar
- Cooking salt (not iodised)
- Remove the outer wilted leaves from the cabbage and cut out of the core of the cabbage.
- Slice the cabbage very finely - use a mandolin if you have one.
- Pop a layer of cabbage in a ceramic or glass bowl and sprinkle it with the salt.
- Repeat the layers until you have used all the cabbage.
- Leave the cabbage overnight.
- Next day drain the cabbage and pop into sterile jars.
- Put the vinegar in a saucpan and add the pickling spice.
- Bring to the boil, then turn off the heat and allow to stand until it is cool.
- Strain the vinegar and pour over the cabbage.
- If there is not enough to cover the cabbage then top up with more vinegar.
- Pop the lid on and keep it in a cool place for about a week when it should be ready to eat.
The red cabbage pickle looks fabulous, Caroline.. I love the color of the red cabbage as such, but the pickle in the jar looks amazing.. thanks for sharing the recipe
Thanks Fareeha. I just love this cabbage. Nothing like a family favourite.