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Bigos (Old Polish Hunter's Stew) Simmered Three Days the Way Masuria Does It

Bigos

Bigos is the great slow stew of the old Polish manor kitchens: sauerkraut and fresh cabbage collapsed into three kinds of meat, dried forest mushrooms, prunes and juniper. It thickens by evaporation alone, never by flour, and it genuinely improves with every reheating. Thick, smoky, sour and faintly sweet, this is a pot you cook once and eat for days.
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Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours 30 minutes
Total Time 4 hours 10 minutes
Servings: 10 People
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Polish
Calories: 590
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 oz dried forest mushrooms porcini or borowiki, plus their soaking liquid
  • 2 lb sauerkraut Polish kapusta kwaszona, drained and only briefly rinsed
  • 1.5 lb fresh white cabbage cored and finely shredded
  • 1.5 lb pork shoulder cut into 1 inch cubes
  • 8 oz smoked bacon boczek, cut into thick lardons
  • 12 oz Polish smoked kielbasa sliced 1/3 inch thick
  • 2 tbsp lard or vegetable oil
  • 2 large onions diced
  • 6 oz pitted prunes halved
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste Greater Poland style
  • 1 cup dry red wine optional, in the older noble style
  • 3 whole bay leaves
  • 6 whole allspice berries
  • 8 whole juniper berries lightly crushed
  • 1 tsp caraway seeds
  • 1 tbsp dried marjoram plus more at the end
  • 1 tsp black pepper freshly ground
  • 1 tsp salt added only at the very end, to taste

Equipment

  • 1 heavy 8-quart Dutch oven or stockpot cast iron or enameled, with lid
  • 1 Large Skillet for browning the meats
  • 1 Small bowl for soaking the dried mushrooms
  • 1 fine mesh strainer to strain the mushroom liquor
  • 1 Sharp chef’s knife

Method
 

  1. Put the dried mushrooms in a small bowl, cover with 2 cups hot water, and leave to soak 30 minutes. Lift them out, chop roughly, and strain the soaking liquid through a fine mesh strainer. Keep both. That liquor is your stock.
  2. Drain the sauerkraut and give it one quick rinse under cold water, no more. Squeeze lightly and chop any long strands. Do not wash it properly or soak it. The acidity is the point of the dish.
  3. Put the sauerkraut and shredded fresh cabbage in the Dutch oven with the strained mushroom liquor and 1 cup water. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook over low heat 45 minutes, until the cabbage is soft and the sauerkraut has lost its raw bite. Stir now and then.
  4. Meanwhile, render the bacon lardons in the skillet over medium heat until the fat runs and the edges are brown, about 8 minutes. Transfer the bacon to the cabbage pot, leaving the fat in the skillet.
  5. Add the lard to the bacon fat and raise the heat to medium-high. Brown the cubed pork shoulder in two batches, 5 to 6 minutes per batch, so it takes real color rather than steaming. Move each batch into the cabbage pot.
  6. Brown the sliced kielbasa in the same skillet for 3 minutes until the edges curl and crisp, then add it to the pot.
  7. Lower the skillet heat to medium and cook the diced onions in the remaining fat for 10 minutes, until soft and golden. Stir in the tomato paste and cook 1 minute more, then scrape it all into the pot.
  8. If using the wine, pour it into the hot skillet, let it bubble for 1 minute while you scrape up the browned bits, and tip it over the stew.
  9. Add the chopped mushrooms, prunes, bay leaves, allspice, juniper, caraway, marjoram and black pepper. Stir everything together well. Do not salt yet.
  10. Cover and simmer over the lowest heat for 2 hours, stirring every 20 minutes and scraping the bottom so nothing catches. Add a splash of water only if it looks like drying out before the meat is tender.
  11. Uncover and cook another 30 to 45 minutes, stirring often, so the liquid evaporates and the stew turns thick and almost dry. It should mound on a spoon, not pour. This evaporation is the only thickening bigos gets.
  12. Fish out the bay leaves and as many whole allspice and juniper berries as you can find. Taste and only now add salt, a pinch at a time, along with a final pinch of marjoram.
  13. Cool the pot completely and refrigerate overnight. The next day, reheat gently for 30 minutes, then cool and refrigerate again. Serve on day three, when the flavors have fully married.
  14. To serve, reheat until steaming, or fry individual portions in a dry hot pan for 3 minutes until the edges darken and catch.

Notes

  • Serve with dark rye bread or pumpernickel, boiled potatoes, pickled cucumbers, and a shot of chilled zubrowka vodka. In Silesia it goes over kopytka potato dumplings.
  • Day three is the goal. Cool fully, refrigerate, and reheat gently at least twice before serving. Traditionalists fry a portion in a dry pan until the edges catch before plating.
  • Do not rinse the sauerkraut thoroughly. A quick drain and brief rinse only. The sourness is the backbone of the dish.
  • Salt only at the very end. Bacon, kielbasa and sauerkraut carry a lot already.
  • For true bigos mysliwski, swap half the pork shoulder for wild boar or venison and add two extra juniper berries.
  • Freezes beautifully for three months. Reheat from frozen over low heat with a splash of water.