Prep. time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes

Rødkål, Danish red cabbage, served hot or cold, is the perfect side to roasted meat, and so is traditionally served at Christmas to accompany roast pork or duck, the centerpiece of the Danish Christmas table.

Hints & Tips

(1) Apple is often added to add a touch of sweetness to this sweet and sour combination. 

(2) If you're serving the cabbage with duck, replace the butter with duck fat. A must for the holidays! 

(3) You can also use black currant juice, red currant jelly, or simply apple juice.

You can also double the quantities and keep the cabbage in sterilized jars in the fridge. 

1.  Remove the tough outer leaves from the cabbage. Cut the head in half and remove the core and the bigger veins from the leaves. Shred the cabbage finely (approximately 1 cm wide).
2. Peel, core and coarsely grate the apples. 
3. Put the shredded red cabbage and the apple in a large sauce pan or Dutch oven.
4. Add the vinegar. Cover and cook over low heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
5. Add the juice, sugar and salt to the pan and simmer for another 30 minutes or until it has the desired texture: the longer you cook it the softer the cabbage will be..
6. Ten minutes before the end of the cooking time, remove the lid to evaporate most of the liquid, checking that the cabbage does not stick.
7. Correct the seasoning as necessary with salt or sugar.