Polish food is another of my family’s favorite cuisines to eat. This past summer when we were on vacation in the mountains, we ate 2 days a row at this amazing little restaurant run by old Polish ladies because it was so good. My family has quite a bit of Polish background, so I like learning about and cooking this food as well.
This hunter’s stew is a meat packed stew with cabbage and sauerkraut, cooked in broth and beer. Interestingly this stew also has prunes, which I was skeptical about I admit. I was pleasantly surprised that during the cooking, the prunes mostly break down and give the stew a slight sweetness, but you aren’t eating a mouthful of prune when you eat the soup.
This soup is subtly flavored with allspice, caraway, juniper, and bay leaves which gives a nice contrast to the pork and kielbasa. There is also some Kabanos sausage, which is a dried Polish sausage product. I bought some on amazon. It was tasty in the stew, and added a nice chewy texture. You could leave it out if you don’t want to buy it though, and it would still taste great. I served this with rye bread on the side. You could also serve with potatoes.
Bigos (Polish Hunter’s Stew)
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 oz dried porcini mushrooms
- 1 cup boiling water
- 6 strips bacon diced
- 3 tbsp oil
- 4 Kabanos sausages cut into small pieces
- 1 lb kielbasa diced
- 2 lbs boneless pork shoulder trimmed and cubed
- 2 onions diced
- 1 small cabbage shredded (I used a bag of coleslaw mix)
- 6 cups sauerkraut
- 10 pitted prunes halved
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 tbsp caraway seeds
- 1/2 tsp allspice
- 3 juniper berries optional
- 480 ml Polish beer or dry red wine or stock
- 240 ml beef stock more if needed
- salt and peper
Instructions
- Place dried mushrooms in a heat safe bowl and cover with boiling water. Set aside while you prep the meat. Pan fry the bacon in a large stock pot until crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon to drain on a paper towel. Remove all but 2 tbsp bacon grease from the pot.
- Add in the diced kielbasa and kabanos. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until browning a little. Remove to a plate. Add the oil to the pan and raise heat to medium high. Now brown the pork in 2 batches until nicely golden brown. Lower the heat back to medium and add the onion, cabbage, sauerkraut, tomato paste, spices, and beer. Allow to come to a boil. Add in the sausages, prunes, bay leaves, mushrooms with liquid and stock. Bring to a boil then cover and transfer to a 325 degree oven (or turn down as low as your stove top can go).
- Cook, stirring occasionally for about 3 hours until the pork is very tender and the stew has all cooked down. Discard the bay leaves and juniper berries. Serve hot with a dollop of sour cream and some rye or potatoes.