Bigos (Polish Hunter's Stew) 🥘

Name: Bigos (Polish Hunter's Stew)
Prep time: 60 min
Cook time: 90 min
Total time: 150 min
Yield: 2-4 servings
Cuisine: Polish
Ingredients: 700 g sauerkraut (fermented cabbage), drained, coarse parts sliced; 500 g fresh white cabbage, shredded; 300 g smoked kiełbasa, thick-sliced; 300 g roast or boiled meat (pork, beef, game), cubed; 150 g bacon, diced; 2 onions; sliced; 2 tbsp tomato paste; 20 g dried porcini, soaked, chopped (broth kept); 5 juniper berries, 1 bay leaf, marjoram; 1 glass red wine or dry white; salt; pepper

Poland's national stew and its most honest leftover dish: sauerkraut, fresh cabbage, whatever smoked and roasted meat the week threw off, all braised low with dried mushrooms, juniper and marjoram. Bigos tastes better on day two and third — the winter pot that keeps deepening. No two households agree on the recipe, which is exactly the point.

Masovia Polish ⏱ 150 min Medium

Method

1

Fry bacon and kiełbasa in a heavy pot till the fat renders; add onions and tomato paste, colour 5 minutes.
2

In a second pan, soften fresh cabbage with a splash of water and the bay, 15 minutes; separately simmer the sauerkraut with the porcini and their broth, 30 minutes.
3

Combine everything in the big pot: cabbage, sauerkraut, meats, wine, juniper, marjoram. Stir and bring to a bare simmer.
4

Braise very low, uncovered, 1.5–2 hours, stirring often so nothing catches — the raw cabbage smell must vanish and the sauce darken.
5

Rest overnight if you can. Reheat before serving with rye bread; it deepens with each reheat.

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Bigos (Polish Hunter's Stew) 🥘

Method

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