Kapuśniak: Polish sauerkraut soup on smoked pork, with potatoes and a roux
A sour, filling soup on a stock of pork ribs and smoked bacon, with sauerkraut, potatoes cooked separately and a light roux at the end. Potatoes separately, because in a sour stock they stay hard for a long time. Marjoram crushed between the palms just before serving.
Your own work in that: 20 min.
- Stock 40 min
- Sauerkraut cooking 30 min
- Potatoes, roux, marjoram 20 min
Step by step
0 / 6 done
Make the smoky stock
Cover the ribs, bacon, vegetables, onion and spices with water, bring to the boil, skim. Simmer 40 minutes. Lift out the carrot, dice it and set aside. Strain the stock and put the ribs and bacon back in — they finish cooking with the sauerkraut.
Ingredients: 500 g pork ribs · 150 g smoked bacon · 2000 ml water · 2 pcs carrots · 1 pcs celeriac, a piece · 1 pcs onion · 2 pcs bay leaves · 5 pcs allspice berries · 6 pcs black peppercorns
Ribs and bacon give smoke and fat
Chop the sauerkraut
Chop the sauerkraut finer if it is in long strands. Keep the juice: it adds sourness at the end if needed. Very sour kraut can be rinsed, but it is rarely worth it.
Ingredients: 600 g sauerkraut · 500 g potatoes · 1 pcs onion · 1 tbsp plain flour · 1 tbsp dried marjoram · ½ tsp caraway seeds · 1 tsp salt · ½ tsp black pepper · 1 tsp sugar
Sauerkraut chopped, juice set aside
Cook the sauerkraut in the stock
Add the sauerkraut to the stock (with the caraway, if using) and simmer covered 30 minutes, until soft. Lift out the ribs and bacon, strip the meat from the bones, dice it with the bacon and return it to the soup with the carrot.
Sauerkraut softening in the stock
Cook the potatoes separately
Meanwhile boil the diced potatoes in salted water until tender, 15 minutes, drain and add to the soup. Separately, because acid stops potatoes softening.
TipThe same rule as for pickle soup: in acid, potatoes soften very slowly. A second pot costs 15 minutes; hard potatoes cost the soup.
Potatoes in their own pot
Make the roux
Soften the diced onion in a spoon of fat skimmed from the stock, add the flour and fry 1–2 minutes, stirring, until lightly golden. Loosen with a ladle of soup and pour into the pot. Simmer 5 minutes.
A light onion roux
Season and serve
Crush the marjoram between your palms over the pot, add the sugar, salt and pepper. Not sour enough? Add sauerkraut juice. Serve with bread. Better the next day.
Marjoram from the palms, sugar for balance
Before you start
With fresh cabbage
Half sauerkraut, half shredded fresh cabbage: milder and sweeter, for those who find an all-sauerkraut soup too sour.
With sausage
200 g sliced smoked sausage fried with the onion for the roux. Even more filling.
Meat-free
Vegetable stock with 4 dried mushrooms, a butter roux, a teaspoon of smoked paprika for the smoke.
Nutrition
per 100 gStep photos are computer-generated from the recipe.
