Bigos: Polish hunter's stew with two cabbages, three meats, mushrooms and prunes
Bigos made half and half from sauerkraut and fresh cabbage, with pork shoulder, smoked sausage and bacon, dried forest mushrooms, prunes and juniper. Stewed for two and a half hours on the first day and reheated after: on the second and third day it is even better. A big batch, because a small bigos makes no sense.
Your own work in that: 50 min.
- Mushrooms soaking 30 min
- Cabbage 20 min
- Meat and sausage 30 min
- Stewing 150 min
Step by step
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Soak the mushrooms
Cover the mushrooms with 300 ml warm water and leave for 30 minutes. Don't pour the water away: it is concentrated flavour and goes into the pot.
Mushrooms plumping, the water taking colour
Prepare the cabbages
Chop the sauerkraut (if very sour, squeeze some of the juice out, but don't rinse). Shred the fresh cabbage finely. Put both in a large pot, add water to half their height and cook 20 minutes, covered.
Ingredients: 1000 g sauerkraut · 1 pcs white cabbage · 30 g dried forest mushrooms · 120 g pitted prunes · 2 pcs onions · 2 tbsp tomato paste
TipFresh cabbage mellows the sauerkraut and adds sweetness. Bigos made only from sauerkraut is as sharp as vinegar.
Sauerkraut chopped, fresh cabbage shredded
Brown the meat
Cut the shoulder into 3 cm cubes. Brown in lard in batches over high heat until dark on every side. Add the onion in wedges towards the end and soften. Add to the cabbage.
Ingredients: 600 g pork shoulder · 400 g smoked Polish sausage · 200 g smoked bacon · 2 tbsp lard
TipBatches, not all at once: crowded meat steams instead of browning, and it is the browning that gives bigos its flavour.
Shoulder cubes, deeply browned
Fry the sausage and bacon
Cut the sausage into thick coins and the bacon into dice. Fry in the same pan until the edges crisp. Add to the pot with the rendered fat.
Sausage and bacon, crisped edges
Add the rest
Add the mushrooms with their soaking water (chop them if large), prunes, tomato paste, bay leaves, allspice, juniper, caraway, marjoram and pepper. Stir. There should be enough liquid to keep the cabbage moist, not floating.
Ingredients: 3 pcs bay leaves · 6 pcs allspice berries · 8 pcs juniper berries · 1 tsp caraway seeds · 1 tbsp dried marjoram · 1 tsp black pepper · 1 tsp salt
Everything in the pot, before stewing
Stew
Over low heat, lid ajar, 2½ hours, stirring every 20 minutes and watching the bottom. It is ready when the cabbage is soft, brown and glossy and the liquid has almost gone. Salt at the end.
TipA scorched bottom usually cannot be rescued — the bitterness spreads through the whole pot. Heavy pot, low heat, stirring.
After two and a half hours: dark and thick
Rest and reheat
Best on the second and third day, reheated for half an hour each time. Keep it in the fridge for up to 4 days and bring each portion back to the boil when reheating. Serve with bread, mashed potatoes or on its own.
Day three, with bread
Before you start
Wine or plum butter
A glass of dry red wine or a spoon of plum butter in the last hour deepens the flavour. Not all at once.
Freezing
Bigos freezes perfectly, in portions, for up to 3 months. Reheat slowly after thawing; many say it is even better frozen.
Too sour
Add fresh cabbage and a spoon of sugar or plum butter. Too mild: a spoon of sauerkraut juice.
Nutrition
per 100 gStep photos are computer-generated from the recipe.
