Holiday Hunter's Stew / Bigos Świąteczny
See what real holiday bigos tastes like . This is my proven recipe for bigos with lots of different meats, dried mushrooms, plums and perfectly selected spices. This is a dish that will delight you. Polish bigos for me defines traditional Polish cuisine, hearty, deliciously comforting and great for sharing. This dish is equally popular as a family meal (served with mashed potatoes or bread) as well as party food, accompanying all celebrations including weddings, communions, graduations, christenings etc. It has withstood the test of time and remains one of the most popular dishes in Poland today (along with vegetable salad, potato pancakes and pierogi). Poles love comfort food!
Ingredients
- 2 kg sauerkraut (cut up)
- 1 kg green cabbage (shredded and scalded)
- 50 grams dried wild mushrooms
- 60 grams pitted dried plums
- 1 kg beef stew meat
- 500 grams pork shoulder
- 400 grams smoked bacon without skin
- 200 grams smoked pork ribs
- 200 grams Polish smoked sausage
- 50 grams pork lard (I used oil)
- 400 grams yellow onions ( 2 large ones)
- 200 ml red dry wine (optional)
- 5 grains allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black or white pepper
- 1 pinch salt to taste
- 5 bay leaves
- 2 dry juniper berries
- honey to taste
- 600 ml water
Instructions
- Start preparing bigos by soaking the dried mushrooms. Place the dried mushrooms in a medium bowl and pour 500 ml of cold water. Cover the bowl with a plate and let them soak for approx.12 hours, preferably overnight. The mushrooms will absorb some of the water and soften.
- Drain the mushrooms from the water, but do not dispose of the water. We will use the water to add to the bigos. I usually strain the water to make sure there is no remaining soil or pine needles from the mushrooms. Cut the drained mushrooms into small strips.
- I don't usually rinse the sauerkraut, but squeeze it out of the salty sour water. For me it's a taste compromise. If you prefer a more sour bigos, do not squeeze the water out of it, If you like very mild bigos, you can additionally rinse the drained sauerkraut in cold water and squeeze it again. I always recommend checking the taste of sauerkraut first, as some are less sour and salty than others.
- Chop a small head of green cabbage or (one kilogram in total) and place it in a strainer in the sink. Scald the cabbage with boiling water from the kettle. Place the scalded cabbage in the pot together with the sauerkraut. Cover the pot with a lid. Bring everything to a boil and then reduce the heat to the lowest setting. It should be simmering on low.
- While both are cooking prepare the meat. Cut raw meat into small pieces: Start with the beef first since it requires more cooking time. The more different meats, the richer the taste of bigos.
- Melt the lard or add oil in a large frying pan and then add all types of chopped meat together. Fry the meat over medium heat for about 20 minutes. Stir everything every few minutes with a spoon.
- After an hour of cooking add all spices and herbs: 5 allspice grains, 1/2 teaspoon of ground black or white pepper, 5 bay leaves, 2 juniper berries, wine and salt to taste. Also pour in the water left from soaking the mushrooms and add the cut up mushrooms. Mix everything thoroughly.
- Next, add the meat fried in the pan. Mix everything and cover with a lid. Cook the bigos all the time over very low heat. Stir it every 30 minutes to prevent it from burning.
- At the very end, prepare the onions and smoked meats. You need two large onions, smoked bacon, and smoked Polish sausage. First, cut the bacon into cubes and place it in the pan after the meat. Once you have rendered the bacon fat, add the chopped onion. After frying for five minutes, add diced smoked sausage. Fry everything for ten minutes.
- Transfer the entire contents of the pan to the pot with boiling bigos. Also finely chop dried plums. If you don't have dried plums, homemade plum jam will also work very well. Mix everything very thoroughly.
- Cook the bigos on minimum heat for 4-5 hours.
- The next day, reheat the bigos for at least one hour. Bigos is ready to eat on the first day, but when heated on the second day, it gets better.
- Serve hot and enjoy! Smacznego!