Braised Sweet and Sour Purple Cabbage
One of my favorite Russian food show hosts is Julia Vysotskaya. I love watching her cook and her recipes are awesome too. If you speak Russian, I definitely recommend that you check her out.
I was recently watching one of her Edim Doma shows and she was making this braised cabbage. My husband and I were both thrilled with the results. Sergi isn’t a big fan of Braised Cabbage (I love it on the other hand), but when he tried this one, he actually liked it and said that it was much better than he was expecting:). I’m telling you, over the years that we’ve been married, Sergi has sure tried so many things that he thinks he doesn’t like. Some of the ingredients that he didn’t like at all, like avocado, shrimp, Asian flavors, etc. are now some of his favorites and he requests them all the time. I am so thankful that he is willing to try new things and isn’t too picky. It would be simply awful is my husband was a picky eater! I am praying and hoping that my kids won’t be picky as well:). We’ll see how that turns out.
You can enjoy the cabbage both warm and cold. It would be a perfect side dish for roasted poultry or pork. I even enjoyed a bowl just by itself. It’s slightly acidic and has some sweetness too, and I especially love that it still has some crunch to it, and isn’t mushy.
Recipe adapted from edimdoma.ru.
Ingredients:
1 onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tablespoon oil
1/2 head of purple cabbage, sliced
1-2 Tablespoons brown sugar
2 Tablespoons red or black currant jam, jelly or preserves
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon lemon juice, optional
1/2 cup water
1 green apple, peeled and julienned
salt
fresh green onions, parsley, and/or dill, minced, optional (to garnish)
Instructions:
Shred the cabbage, slice the onion, mince the garlic, peel and julienne the apple.
In a skillet, heat 1 Tablespoon of oil. Add the onion, season with salt and cook for about 3-5 minutes, until softened and slightly golden. 
Add the cabbage, garlic and season with season with salt again. 
Isn’t the purple cabbage breathtakingly gorgeous?
Cook on medium high heat until the cabbage has softened slightly.
Pour in the water, add the vinegar, brown sugar and jam. 
Mix to combine, cover the skillet and cook on medium low heat for about 10 minutes. Add the apple and cook for another 10 minutes. 
Season with more salt, if it needs it and also add more sugar or lemon juice, depending on how you prefer your braised cabbage to taste. Garnish with fresh herbs, such as green onion, parsley and/or dill. 
- 1 onion, sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 Tablespoon oil
- ½ head of purple cabbage, sliced
- 1-2 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons red or black currant jam, jelly or preserves
- 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice, optional
- ½ cup water
- 1 green apple, peeled and julienned
- salt
- fresh green onions, parsley, and/or dill, minced, optional (to garnish)
- Shred the cabbage, slice the onion, mince the garlic, peel and julienne the apple.
- In a skillet, heat 1 Tablespoon of oil. Add the onion, season with salt and cook for about 3-5 minutes, until softened and slightly golden.
- Add the cabbage, garlic and season with salt again. Cook on medium high heat until the cabbage has softened slightly.
- Pour in the water, add the vinegar, brown sugar and jam. Mix to combine, cover the skillet and cook on medium low heat for about 10 minutes.
- Add the apple and cook for another 10 minutes.
- Season with more salt, if it needs it and also add more sugar or lemon juice, depending on how you prefer your braised cabbage to taste.
13 Comments
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Shinee
Hi, Olga! This looks awesome! I just found your blog through SideChef and marinated mini peppers. Can’t wait to try them. How do you watch the Russian cooking shows, I would love to check them out. 🙂
olgak7
Hi Shinee! Welcome. I’m so glad you stopped by.
Click on the link that I posted when I was talking about the show to see it.
Shinee
Sounds good. Thank you!
Natalie
This is a very German recipe. I like the braised red cabbage warm with beef roast (any kind of roast meet would be good). In German recipes often served with ‘knoedel’ or bread dumplings and gravy.
Thanks, Olga, for your never ending hard work and great ideas.
Natalie
olgak7
You’re welcome, Natalie:).
Both Germans and Russian sure enjoy their cabbage!
olga
when do you add the garlic? I didnt see it in the steps. also, next time you make this can u add an approx weight for the 1/2 cabbage. we have tiny red cabbages around here so i want to make sure im using the right amount. Thanks!
olgak7
You add the garlic at the same time as you add the cabbage, Olga. It is in the recipe instructions, you must have missed it, which is easy to do.
Also, the size of the cabbage will not matter in this recipe.
Leya
Olga,
Does this salad taste sweet? Does it taste more like marinated Russian salad, can you give me an example?
Karen
Happened by this recipe while I was looking for something else, and I was reminded to tell you, that I’ve made this several times now, and it’s my go-to red cabbage recipe.
My heritage is Czech and German on my mother’s side, and I make many of her recipes. But this tops all for red cabbage – delicious.
olgak7
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Karen. Thanks for taking the time to write.
Julia
Hi Olga!
Do you know if I could make this the night before a family function, store in the fridge and eat cold? Would it still be good the next day? And if yes, would you re-heat it on day two or serve cold if you were to eat it as a dinner side?
Thank you.
olgak7
You can certainly make it the day before, but I would recommend reheating it, Julia.
Julia
Thank you!