Bigos (Polish Hunter's Stew)
From: Poland
Servings:
6-8
Difficulty:
Medium
Ingredients
- 500g sauerkraut, rinsed and chopped
- 500g fresh white cabbage, shredded
- 300g pork shoulder, cubed
- 200g pork belly, cubed
- 2 Polish kielbasa (about 200g), sliced
- 100g bacon, diced
- 30g dried mushrooms (forest mushrooms), rehydrated in warm water, chopped
- 1 cup mushroom soaking liquid
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- ½ cup dried prunes, halved
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ tsp allspice
- ½ tsp marjoram
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1.5 cups beef or pork broth
Instructions
- 1. In a large pot, render bacon until crispy. Remove and set aside.
- 2. Brown cubed pork (shoulder and belly) in bacon fat, working in batches. Remove and set aside.
- 3. In the same pot, gently sauté sliced kielbasa. Remove and set aside.
- 4. Sauté chopped onion until soft, about 5 minutes.
- 5. Stir in tomato paste and cook 1-2 minutes.
- 6. Add sauerkraut, fresh cabbage, mushrooms, mushroom liquid, broth, bay leaves, allspice, marjoram, salt, pepper.
- 7. Return all meats (bacon, pork, kielbasa) to pot. Add prunes.
- 8. Bring to a simmer. Cover and cook on low heat for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally.
- 9. Add water if the stew becomes too thick.
- 10. Traditionally, bigos is cooled and refrigerated overnight, then reheated the next day (this improves flavor).
- 11. Can be reheated and simmered multiple times over several days as flavors deepen.
- 12. Serve hot as is, or with crusty rye bread and potatoes.
- 13. Bigos tastes even better the next day or after several days of reheating.