Hunter's Bigos — Polish Stew of Sauerkraut, Pork & Forest Mushrooms
3 h · Hard
#autumn#comfort#meal prep#polish#stew#weekend#winter
Adam Mickiewicz gave bigos a whole passage in Pan Tadeusz (1834): after the hunt, pots of it are warmed over the fire, and words, he wrote, can hardly capture its taste, colour and smell. Poles have argued about the right recipe ever since. This one keeps the classics — sauerkraut and fresh cabbage, pork and kielbasa, forest mushrooms and prunes — and, like every good bigos, tastes best reheated on day two or three.
Ingredientsfor 6 portions
- 800 g Sauerkraut, drained, roughly chopped
- 400 g Green Cabbage, finely shredded
- 400 g Pork Shoulder, Raw, cut into 2 cm cubes
- 300 g Polish Kielbasa, sliced into half-moons
- 100 g Bacon, Raw, diced
- 2 medium Yellow Onion, diced
- 20 g Porcini Mushrooms, Dried, soaked in hot water, liquid kept
- 8 piece Prunes, halved
- 2 tbsp Tomato Paste
- 3 leaf Bay Leaves
- 1 tsp Allspice
- 150 ml Red Wine
- 1 tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 0.5 tsp Black Pepper
Steps
- Cover the dried mushrooms with hot water and leave to soak for 20 minutes. Lift them out, chop them, and strain and keep the soaking liquid — it carries most of the forest flavour.
- In a large heavy pot, fry the bacon in the oil over medium heat for 5 minutes until the fat runs. Add the pork in two batches and brown for 5–6 minutes, until coloured on all sides.
- Add the onions and kielbasa and cook for 5 minutes, until the onion softens and the edges of the sausage crisp.
- Stir in the sauerkraut, fresh cabbage, mushrooms with their soaking liquid, prunes, tomato paste, bay leaves, allspice and pepper. Pour in the wine and just enough water to cover the bottom of the pot.
- Cover and simmer on the lowest heat for 2–2½ hours, stirring every 20–30 minutes and adding a splash of water if it starts to catch. It's ready when the pork is fork-tender and the cabbage has turned a deep amber-brown.
- Taste: it should be sour, smoky and gently sweet from the prunes. Remove the bay leaves. For the best bigos, cool it, refrigerate overnight and reheat slowly — serve with rye bread.
