Delicious meal for New Year’s Day? Sauerkraut and pork will bring luck with money and a tasty meal on any day of the week!

The things we do for luck. Be it a rabbit’s tail, clover or chimney sweeps, we do them all for a bit of extra luck in our pocket. It seems that no amount of holy water can drown our belief in superstitions and there is no better time to stuff ourselves full with good luck than before the New Year starts.

Nations across the globe have different strategies and customs that may allow us a glimpse into their real souls too.

Spanish speaking countries have the custom to eat 12 pieces of grapes at midnight which supposedly brings luck for all the 12 months that will follow in the New Year. In Spain this simple task is made a bit harder by a tolling bell in the capital’s main square by which people need to eat one grape at each ring of the bell to get the full benefits of lucky charm.

If getting grapes at the end of December is not hard then stuffing them down at the beat of the clock will make it difficult, that’s for sure. No luck comes free easily so that some nations don’t yearn for good luck but they try to wade bad luck off.

For example some Romanians, who live on a land that is scattered with bears in the Moldova region, count every day lucky that bears no bear for them. To keep bad luck away for the New Year villagers dress up in real bearskin and dance up and down the streets between Christmas and New Year’s Eve.

Other nations don’t only want good things to come to them or keep bad things away. They want to know exactly what comes to them in the New Year. For example, in Finland and Hungary people melt tin then pour it into cold water. The resulting shape is not only a cool science experience or avant-garde living room decoration but a prediction of what New Year brings.

Some nations want none of the above though. They just want to get rid of what lay behind and concentrate on what comes ahead. Danes go as far as throwing broken kitchenware at their friends and family’s homes while some in South Africa like to toss their old furniture out of the window to make space for all the new things to come.

Most nations, though, content themselves with more mundane tasks like cleaning the house for the New Year but Chinese take this very seriously as they clean the house from top to bottom and then always sweeping inwards of the house as a way to keep the good luck inside. Trash is then emptied at the back door given that there is any of course.

During the years, thanks to the Internet and above all the Social Media, these customs are accumulated in our social feed and now we can do them all to ensure the best result. It’s recommended to refrain ourselves from throwing out sofas from the tenth floor without proper preparation beforehand but going about in a bearskin at New Year’s Eve and dancing up and down the streets will probably be fine wherever we live.

It will also be fine just to do some less ambitious plans than the Estonian who eat 7 to 12 meals at one sitting to gather our strength for the next year. Try to avoid anything with wings though as that will fly away with our luck or do any washing as that washes away our luck on New Year’s Day.

This will legitimately keep us from doing any chores for one day during the year at least but having something to eat will still be necessary and that must be pork. As pork root around with their snoots, it symbolizes progress and unearthing good luck, so there it is.

To make things more precise, don’t just ask for good luck but we can ask for more money, too. It’s as easy as to eat something green like cabbage as believe it or not that brings wealth to our home. So, it seems that apart from marrying an investment banker, we can make our luck simply by eating Sauerkraut pork on New Years Eve. Well, that can be helped easily.

Ingredients:

2½ lb / 1200g Pork chop
2 medium Onion (diced)
2 Apple (peeled and diced) (optional)
3 cloves Garlic
5 lb / 2000g Sauerkraut
1 teaspoon Black pepper
2 teaspoon Paprika
2 teaspoon Salt

How to make sauerkraut and pork:

Pour oil into a pan and sear both sides of the pork chop.
While the meat is being done, dice the onions, apples and garlic.
Try the sauerkraut and if it’s too sour rinse it once with water then spread it onto a baking tray.
Mix the onions, apples and garlic into the sauerkraut.
Sprinkle black pepper, paprika and salt on top.
Put the seared pork chop in the middle.
Place the lid on and put the tray into the 390°F / 200°C oven until its inner temperature reaches 145°F / 63°C.
It takes about an hour but to be done depends on personal taste and it may require additional 60 minutes of roasting.
Before taking it out of the oven, take the lid off and roast it for 30 minutes for a nice golden brown color that provides additional flavor to the dish.
Serve it as it is or add sour cream if desired.

Enjoy!

There are more to cabbage than just throwing it on a tray with a piece of pork. Try them out all:

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Sauerkraut and Pork Recipe

Delicious meal for New Year's Day? Sauerkraut and pork will bring luck with money and a tasty meal on any day of the week!

Course Low Carb Meal, Meal

Cuisine Dairy free, Gluten free, Keto, Low carb recipe, Paleo, Sugar free recipe

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 2

Total Time 2 10

Ingredients

Instructions

Pour oil into a pan and sear both sides of the pork chop.
While the meat is being done, dice the onions, apples and garlic.
Try the sauerkraut and if it's too sour rinse it once with water then spread it onto a baking tray.
Mix the onions, apples and garlic into the sauerkraut.
Sprinkle black pepper, paprika and salt on top.
Put the seared pork chop in the middle.
Place the lid on and put the tray into the 390°F / 200°C oven until its inner temperature reaches 145°F / 63°C.
It takes about an hour but to be done depends on personal taste and it may require additional 60 minutes of roasting.
Before taking it out of the oven, take the lid off and roast it for 30 minutes for a nice golden brown color that provides additional flavor to the dish.
Serve it as it is or add sour cream if desired.

Notes