Red cabbage (the most hygge of side dish recipes) is traditionally served on Christmas Eve in Denmark with roast goose, pork or duck, as its sweet/sour flavour cuts through the richness of the meat beautifully. It is traditional in our house to make it the day before Christmas Eve, as the smell fills the house and gets everyone excited about the party to come. We love it served hot with roast pork, and brunkartofler (caramelised Christmas potatoes), but it is also delicious cold as a topping on a Danish open sandwich.
Some recipes omit the redcurrant jelly and apples, but I find they give the cabbage a lovely thick dark red characteristic colour which is missing otherwise.
Grandmother’s Danish rødkål red cabbage recipe
A delicious and essential side dish for Christmas Eve!
Ingredients
- 1 red cabbage
- 200 grams of redcurrant jelly
- 1 cooking apple peeled and chopped roughly
- 50 grams butter
- 60 ml of vinegar
- Salt and peppercorns
- Water
Instructions
- Shred the cabbage finely. Melt the butter in a large heavy based saucepan (I have an old jam pan I use especially for rødkål as until it starts to cook down the cabbage takes up a lot of room!).
- Add the cabbage and stir until the butter has been mixed through and the cabbage is all glossy.
- Tip in the vinegar, apple, and a pinch of seasoning, along with a couple of tablespoons of water. Cook on a low heat for an hour, stirring periodically. If you find it is getting too dry add another spoonful of water; it should be moistly glossy but not sitting in a pool of liquid.
- Add the redcurrant jelly and cook gently for another 45-60 mins, then season and start fiddling with the taste; I often add another couple of spoonfuls of jelly if I find it is not sweet enough. Cook until the cabbage is soft, rich and thick then leave overnight for the flavours to really develop. Warm gently to serve. Apparently it heats up very nicely in the microwave but I haven’t got one!
Notes
Not all vinegars are created equal! I find that apple cider vinegar can be much more acidic than white wine vinegar, so if yours is quite punchy add it spoonful by spoonful and taste as you go!
