Braised Sauerkraut With Pork And Sour Cream Paprika Sauce
Okay guys, try not to judge this one by its looks as they don’t do any justice to this dish.
Just a quick slogan before I’m off to the recipe: all sauerkraut fans unite!!! … vive la choucroute!!!! … alles Gute zum Geburtstag … uhm that’s not it, help me out here will you? 
(I know there should be a sauerkraut in there somewhere 
)
Ingredients
- 1 kg sauerkraut (use a whole head)
- ½ kg pork loin (you can also use ¼ kg pork and ¼ kg beef)
- 8 Tbsp rice
- 1 onion
- 12 Tbsp sour cream (you don’t need the full fat version, I used 12% fat)
- 3 Tbsp of freshly chopped dill
- 1 Tbsp sweet paprika
- 4 dried bay leaves
- 10 ½ Tbsp sunflower oil
- Salt – to taste
- Freshly ground pepper mix (black, white, green and red) – to taste
Directions
Drain the cabbage head and core it, then cut it in half and shred it with a knife. Collect all the shredded sauerkraut in a large mixing bowl.
Rinse the shredded sauerkraut under cold water. Discard the rinsing water from the mixing bowl and repeat 1-2 times depending on how tart is your sauerkraut. I usually rinse it 3 times. When you’re done rinsing it, get rid of the extra water by draining it in a colander.
Pour 3 Tbsp of sunflower oil in a round Pyrex. Place a compact cast iron flame-tamer on the burner (make sure the flame-tamer is about the same diameter as a medium flame). Put the Pyrex on the flame-tamer and heat up your oil. Season the sauerkraut with a bit of ground pepper and some salt (not too much as the process of making sauerkraut already includes these seasonings and much, much more) and mix well with your hands. Add all the shredded sauerkraut to the casserole, press in the dried bay leaves and pour some water…just enough to have 2 cm of water at the bottom. Cover with the lid and cook on low-medium heat for 1 ½ hour. Make sure you always have some water/juice at the bottom of the casserole otherwise the cabbage will burn at the bottom. Stir a couple of times while the cabbage is braising.
Next on the list is the meat. Grind it using a meat grinder. “What are talking about Lore? Didn’t you said you have a small kitchen with only a minimum of kitchen utensils? How on earth does a meat grinder fit in there?”. Well you’re right, I don’t have a meat grinder but I do have a trick 
. Here’s what I do. The day before making this dish, I cut the meat in 6 equal pieces and I put them in the freezer. The next day I grate them one by one on the big holes. By the time I finish shredding and rinsing the cabbage, the meat is already thawed and ready to cook.
Grate the onion on the small holes and heat up 5 Tbsp of sunflower oil in a heavy-bottomed pot. Add the onion and sauté for a few minutes. Alternatively you can always just chop up the onion and sauté it until it becomes translucent. Toss in the meat and stir with a wooden spoon until all the meat gets a white-ish colour. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper and cook, partially covered, for 25-30 minutes. Make sure the pot always has a bit of water/juice at the bottom, add some if necessary.
Now on to the rice. Bring 400 ml water to a boil. Heat up 2 ½ Tbsp of sunflower oil in saucepan (heavy-bottomed works best). Toss in the rice and cook for 2-3 minutes over low-medium heat (stirring all the way). Pour the boiling water over the rice, season with salt an pepper, stir and cook, partially covered, for 15-20 minutes (or according to package instructions).
Mix together the cooked meat and rice. Stir well.
Make a sauce by mixing together the fresh sour cream with paprika, chopped dill and a pinch of salt.
At this point I couldn’t wait anymore so I skipped a few steps. I just mixed them all and spooned the sauce over. That was delicious too so I was quite pleased but here’s what you need to do if you’re not in a hurry.
Take another Pyrex and start making layers. The first layer down should be made of braised sauerkraut (discard the bay leaves as you come across them). Make a rice-meat layer on top of it, then a thin sauce layer. Repeat the layers until there are no ingredients left. The last layer up should be a sauce layer. Put the microwave food cover (with steam vent) over the casserole and microwave it on 650 W for 10 minutes.
Allow it to cool a bit and serve while it’s still hot.
Bon a, bon a-pétit, à vous, à vous aussi
Check out my buddy’s Adam take on this dish called Kapusta, with a Polish twist. Isn’t it great when you see just how similar dishes from different cultures really are?
Though it doesn’t look good, I know it tastes good. Sauerkraut, pork and paprika, they have to be good. By the way, this just remind me of Hungarian dish that I used to make, it has the almost similar ingredients just different technique. Cheers. Elra
I like sauerkraut in my hot dogs
other than that i have not tasted it.
You come up with the coolest stuff! It’s a good thing I’m a quarter German! I can eat this as a tribute to my roots! (Ha!)
I’m Polish so saurkraut is in my blood! Love it!
Cool tip about grating the meat. Thanks! Haven’t tried the real stuff yet (sauerkraut): would have to remedy that soon.
hmmm… definitely something new for me to try… that’s why i love your blog…
Hiding in the corner now from shame from not having tried saurkraut before…
You know what, it doesn’t matter…I was drawn to this dish just by the title when it came through my reader….wonderful idea.
Hey there my sauerkraut buddy! As soon as I saw the title of this I thought, “Nice, here it is!” I read through all the steps, and I really, really like this version. Sour cream was always around growing up, and I like the paprika addition. I’m going to def try this when the weather gets colder with my family. I’m even sure Babcia (grandma) will be impressed
wow wow wow!!! layers of meat rice, sauerkraut and sauce, then baked… oh mine, Lore, you are incredibly creative!
Mmm, looks mighty tasty and I’m not even a sauerkraut fan! Beautiful pictures!
My husband and I love sauerkraut, but we’ve never had it like this. Definitely going to try this recipe!
I love sauerkraut on ruebin sandwiches but haven’t cooked with it. This recipe looks and sounds delicious - I may just have to give it a try.
Thank you for your comments in my blog. I love to participate in your event original recipe.
Best and whises
not a colourful dish..i guess it tastes great. i have not had it at all, and not pork, definitely!:-(
Lore this look wonderful!! so tasty! xxGloria
that looks like a yummy meal lore! and it sounds delicious too!
I’m afraid I must be so blinded by my love of the choucroute that I cannot see anything but its beauty!
This looks fabulous. I love pork nestled into a fine bed of fermented cabbage
Reading the post I was going to ask you if you used fermented sauerkraut but I’ve seen the answer. Looks delicious.
im in love with choucroute and sausages
that paprika sauce sounds so tempting!
That looks so delicious!
I’ve never had choucroute, although I’ve had similar dishes. I love sauerkraut and pork together. (Man I wish my husband would eat both of those things!) This really looks like a delicious dish. If I make it, more for me!
I’ve never tried sauerkraut but oh my it does look so delicious!
Rosie x
I like sauerkraut, and actually had some two times this week! Good looking dish.
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