The canonical hot plate of a Frankfurt apple-wine tavern: brine-cured pork loin chops on the bone, warmed through gently in or alongside wine-braised sauerkraut, and served with mashed potato or dark bread and a sharp mustard. The pork is cured rather than fresh, so it stays pink and faintly hammy. It is hearty, sour-savoury everyday food, the dish locals order with a Bembel of Apfelwein after work.
The dish belongs to the Ebbelwoi (Apfelwein) tavern culture of Frankfurt am Main and surrounding Hesse, where cider-houses in districts such as Sachsenhausen built a standard menu of pork-and-sauerkraut plates to go with the local apple wine. Rippchen here specifically means a brine-cured (Pökeln) pork loin chop, not a fresh cutlet — curing with salt and saltpetre/nitrite was the regional preservation norm for pork, and the gentle reheating in kraut keeps the cured meat tender rather than dry. The pairing with sauerkraut reflects the lacto-fermented cabbage that was a winter staple across central Germany; the plate is documented as a tavern fixture through the 19th and 20th centuries.
A thick, bone-in chop that cuts pink and moist, tasting cured and lightly salty like a mild ham rather than roast pork. Underneath is a mound of warm sauerkraut, sour and savoury, often carrying juniper and a hint of caraway, sometimes a faint apple-wine sweetness. A spoon of smooth mashed potato or a slice of dense bread soaks the kraut juices, and a stripe of medium-hot mustard sharpens each bite. Plain, filling, and unmistakably tavern food.
The pork is cured, not cooked from raw at the table: brining in salt with curing salt (nitrite) over a day or more fixes the meat's colour pink and develops the cured, faintly hammy flavour, and it is usually sold already cured and lightly cooked. The critical move is heat control — the chop is warmed through in or over the sauerkraut at a gentle simmer, never boiled hard, because cured loin is lean and overheating dries and toughens it. The kraut is braised separately in apple wine or stock with juniper and bay so its acidity mellows and concentrates; the sour cabbage liquor in turn seasons the mild cured pork laid on top.
Variations
The standard accompaniment is mashed potato (Kartoffelbrei) or a slice of dark farmhouse bread; some serve it with boiled potatoes instead. The sauerkraut may be cooked plain or enriched with apple wine, bacon, or apple. Outside the apple-wine houses the same cured chop appears with pease pudding or with bread dumplings. It sits close to Kasseler-and-kraut plates found across Germany but is distinguished by the Frankfurt brine-cured loin chop and its fixed place on the Ebbelwoi tavern menu.
On the Palate
Where Rippchen mit Kraut sits in the German flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
8 steps · 25 min active + 25 min waiting
- 15 min
Drain the sauerkraut and rinse lightly if very sharp; reserve a little of the liquor.
- 28 min
In a wide pot, soften sliced onion in lard or oil, add the sauerkraut, juniper berries and a bay leaf.
- 340 min
Pour in apple wine or stock to barely cover and braise gently, partly covered, for about 30-40 minutes until mellow.
Watch outBraise the kraut gently until its sharpness mellows and concentrates — rushed, it stays harshly sour; that mellowed cabbage liquor is what seasons the pork.
- 415 min
Lay the brine-cured pork chops on top of the kraut, cover, and warm through over low heat for 12-15 minutes; do not boil hard.
Watch outWarm the cured chops through over low heat, never a hard boil — cured loin is lean and turns dry and tough if it overheats.
- 520 min
Meanwhile boil peeled potatoes until tender, then mash with warm milk and butter to a smooth purée.
- 63 min
Season the kraut with salt, pepper and a little of its reserved liquor.
- 73 min
Plate the chops on a bed of sauerkraut with the mashed potato alongside.
- 82 min
Serve hot with medium-hot mustard and, by tradition, a glass of apple wine.
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